In the context of the amendments operated on the Administrative Disputes Law No 554/2004 by the Law No 212/2018, the author proposes to analyse the time limits in which the prior complaint can be filed and to analyze each of them separately, by grouping them according to the subject of the prior complaint and to the object of the prior complaint.
The author makes the transition from the time limits imposed on the addressees of the administrative act to the time limits imposed on third parties, in the situation of the typical and assimilated individual administrative act, by investigating the length of the time limit, the moment from which it starts, the legal nature or the applicable legal regime and the sanction applied in case of non-compliance with these time limits. The main time limits within which the prior complaint can be filed are analyzed, special attention being given to cases where the prior complaint is not mandatory.
Finally, the author emphasizes the importance of applying these time limits in just measure so that the prior complaint procedure does not become an obstacle, not related to the concrete situation, in the way of access to justice of the alleged injured party, nor it becomes an instrument of abuse.