Decisions or actions of public authorities may be challenged in the court. Judgements of the court of first instance can be appealed.
Generally there is one stage of appeal in administrative court proceeding.
Stages of appeal proceeding:
Most of the decisions or practical action taken by state or public institutions having some impact on rights or duties have to be appealed within an administrative procedure before a higher institution or official before they can be challenged to the administrative court (správny súd) of first instance.
example Before you can appeal decisions of the Tax Office (daňový úrad) to the administrative court, you have to appeal them to the Financial Administration of the Slovak Republic (Finančné riaditeľstvo Slovenskej republiky).
In Slovakia, mainly the regional courts (krajské súdy) serve as an administrative court of first instance. Some cases are devoted in first instance to the county courts (okresné súdy) or directly to the Supreme Court of the Slovak Republic (Najvyšší súd Slovenskej republiky).
example You may challenge the decision of the Financial Administration of the Slovak Republic in the regional court. However, the proposal of the general prosecutor to dissolve a political party due to its incompliance with democratic legal order will be decided by the Supreme Court in the first instance.
You can also appeal the decisions and judgments of the administrative court of first instance. In Slovakia, any valid decision of an administration court of first instance can be challenged by a cassation complaint for reasons stipulated by law. Exceptions are some resolutions of a procedural nature, which cannot be challenged (e.g. on extension of time, on costs of proceedings). In case the Supreme Court decided the matter in the first instance, a cassation complaint will be decided by the grand chamber of the Supreme Court.
In the review process, the court of cassation or the Supreme Court of the Slovak Republic (Najvyšší súd Slovenskej republiky) will examine your complaints about the mistakes of a lower court, which are related to an incorrect interpretation of law or violations of procedural rules. These mistakes are prescribed by law and must be serious enough to lead to an incorrect decision.
Since a court of cassation deals with complaints about potential violations of law in court procedure, the requirements for your access to the court (such as arguments on which you base your cassation claim or court fee) are stricter than in lower courts. Generally, a court of cassation examines cases in a written procedure, that is, without a public court hearing.