There is still no statutory regulation that would specify the qualification requirements for persons applying for the authorization to carry out soil classification of land – says the Ombudsman and once again points to the justification for urgent legislative action.
Today, statutory regulations do not specify either selection criteria or qualification requirements for persons performing soil classification of land.
– This means that the classifier can be any person authorized by the starosta, which creates a risk of incorrect classification – says the Ombudsman.
The Ombudsman intervenes, but to no avail
The Ombudsman has been dealing with this issue since 2008. In numerous general speeches, he requested appropriate legislative intervention to successive ministers responsible for construction, spatial planning and development, housing and rural development, as well as to the Prime Minister.
In 2021 and 2022, the Supreme Audit Office also took up the case reported by the Commissioner for Inspection of the manner in which starosts carry out soil classification of land in the absence of statutory regulation. The inspection results clearly confirmed the defects of the current legal status: the audited district offices did not ensure the correct soil classification of land in 2015-2020 (Q1-3).
In its post-audit recommendations, the Supreme Audit Office recommended that the government take urgent legislative action and define in the Act the necessary qualifications of persons authorized to classify land, which will ensure the appropriate substantive level of the opinion.
In accordance with the latest explanations of the Minister of Development and Technology of June 7, 2023, the ministry asked for the entry of the appropriate draft act amending the Geodetic and Cartographic Law into the list of legislative and program works of the Council of Ministers.
In February, Deputy Ombudsman Stanisław Trociuk asked the Minister of Development and Technology Krzysztof Hetman for information on the current state of legislative work on this matter.
The Ministry of Development and Technology responds
– With reference to the letter of February 2 this year, reference number IV.7007.50.2014.BD, containing a request for information on the current state of legislative work on the introduction of legislative changes to the Act specifying the necessary qualifications of persons authorized to carry out classification activities in within the framework of soil classification of land, I kindly inform you that The Ministry of Development and Technology is in the process of preparing an application to introduce a draft act amending the Geodetic and Cartographic Law into the List of legislative and program works of the Council of Ministers. This project will take into account the changes requested by the Supreme Audit Office in the scope of regulating the qualifications of persons authorized to carry out classification activities as part of the soil classification of land – says Krzysztof Kukucki, Secretary of State at the Ministry of Energy and Technology.
And adds:
– I would like to kindly inform you that the draft act, after being included in the List of legislative and program works of the Council of Ministers, will be sent to the Commissioner at the stage of public consultations and opinions on this act conducted by the Ministry of Development and Technology.
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