Appealing a negative decision in respect of an application for a concession

An appeal and its required particulars

The entrepreneur or, where relevant, other parties to the proceedings (the responsible representative) have the right to appeal the decision to reject the application for a concession or, where relevant, the resolution to discontinue the proceedings (hereinafter the “decision”) – for example, because they disagree with the reasons stated in the decision. Only the operative part of the decision, a single statement within the operative part or its subsidiary provisions may be appealed against; it is not possible to appeal solely against the reasons for the decision. An appeal may be withdrawn at any time during the appeal proceedings and the proceedings are discontinued by the withdrawal of the appeal – the administrative authority will issue a resolution stating this fact, note the resolution in the file and notify all parties to the proceedings thereof. The contested decision then comes into force on the day following the date of withdrawal of the appeal.

The appeal must be filed within the statutory time limit with the trade licensing office that issued the contested decision and, in addition to the standard required particulars of a submission (the submitter, the subject matter, to whom it is addressed, the signature of the submitter, etc.), it must contain the following information:

• Against which decision it is lodged
• The extent to which the decision is being appealed
• Where the conflict with legal regulations is perceived to be or where the incorrectness of the decision or proceedings lies

The procedure followed by the office that issued the decision appealed

The trade licensing office will notify the other parties to the proceedings of the appeal and allow them to comment on it within a reasonable time limit (no less than 5 days). It will then consider the appeal, amend the proceedings according to the circumstances and, depending on the specific case, take one of the following steps:

• It may itself annul the decision if, by doing so, it fully grants the appeal, no harm is caused to the other parties to the proceedings and the other parties to the proceedings consent. Subsequently, after amending the underlying documents, if necessary, it will decide to grant a concession
• If the trade licensing office does not find grounds to grant the appeal itself, it will refer the file along with its opinion to the appellate administrative authority, namely the regional trade licensing office with territorial jurisdiction, within 30 days of the lodging of the appeal.

Procedure followed by the appellate administrative authority

The appellate authority will review the contested decision to the extent of the objections raised in the appeal and decide on the appeal according to the circumstances of the particular case:

• Dismiss the appeal and uphold the contested decision
• Grant the appeal, annul the contested decision and refer the application for a concession back to trade licensing office for reconsideration and a new decision

The decision of the appellate administrative authority cannot be appealed, and this decision comes into force on the date of its notification, i.e. delivery, to all parties to the proceedings. The appellate administrative authority then returns the file to the trade licensing office and the further course of the proceedings then depends on how the appeal has been decided.