Conflicts of Competence and Petty Offences before the Council of Ministers

Abstract

Examining the minutes of the Council of Ministers, we can state that there were basically three ways in which the petty offences appeared there: firstly, the management of tasks related to petty offences as ministerial competence, secondly, the preparation of legislation related to petty offences, and thirdly as conflicts of competence related to petty offences. One of the results of the compromise associated with the commencement of judicial reform was the adoption of Article 25 of Act IV of 1869, which temporarily regulated the issue of resolving conflicts of competence between administrative authorities and courts. The regulation was unfortunate because the government had to deal with issues for which it did not have the necessary knowledge, the necessary competencies, or the required amount of time. In addition, especially in the case of petty offences, cases had to be brought before the government that were of very little importance. According to contemporaries, the government acted with due restraint and caution in resolving conflicts of competence. However, this restraint was not forced by any legislation, nor was there any legal guarantee element in the government proceedings. The real solution to the situation was brought in 1907 by the Competence Court Act.