Andersen wins favorable ruling from the Supreme Administrative Court in a case concerning waste landfill management
The Supreme Administrative Court overturned an unfavorable ruling by the Provincial Administrative Court in Warsaw, siding with Andersen’s legal team in a case concerning the management of a waste landfill.
This is a significant decision for landfill operators, as such matters are rarely addressed by administrative authorities or courts. The ruling may set a precedent for favorable outcomes in similar cases.
The case involved the potential expiration of a decision approving landfill operating instructions, triggered by the operator’s loss of legal title to the property.
Our client, the landfill operator, terminated the land lease agreement following the completion of the site’s reclamation. Subsequently, the client requested that the Marshal of the Lower Silesian Province declare the original operating permit expired, citing the loss of legal rights to the property. However, both administrative authorities and the Provincial Administrative Court in Warsaw concluded that the loss of legal title did not automatically render the prior approval decision invalid.
At the same time, the same lack of legal title was used as grounds to deny a new permit for updated landfill operating instructions, resulting in contradictory application of the law.
The Supreme Administrative Court reversed the lower court’s decision, citing inadequate reasoning and a failure to address key arguments raised in the complaint. Importantly, the Court emphasized that the issue of legal title loss—and its impact on the validity of landfill operating approvals—is material and warrants further legal analysis.
“The court of first instance failed to assess the fact that, according to the authorities, the absence of legal title is not a ground for declaring the original decision expired, while at the same time it prevents the issuance of a new one” – noted the Supreme Administrative Court.
The case was handled by:
Dawid Mielcarski, Partner at Andersen in Poland
Kinga Kamionka, Senior Associate at Andersen in Poland