Kunnallisvalituksen laillisuusvalvontafunktio kaava-asioissa

Abstrakti

In the public debate, it has been frequently stated that the extensive right to make a municipal appeal regarding city planning is misused, which has led to calls to abolish the appeal institution. Focus on misuse has obscured the original purpose of the appeal institution, that is, enabling private citizens to control the legality of city planning. The purpose of this article is to determine whether private citizens exercise this legal control in practice. The article will also study justifications for the fears of misuse and possible alternatives for the legal control exercised by private citizens. The core of the article is an empirical study based on the rulings of administrative courts of Oulu and Kouvola from the year 2013 and comparison of these results to earlier empirical studies. The main finding of the research was that appeals done purely in the interest of controlling the legality of city planning are extremely rare. Alternative ways of legal control seem to be highly depended on the available resources and the people participating in the process. However, evidence on the misuse of the right to appeal was not found in this study. This article calls attention to the legal control of the city planning process in its current vulnerable state. It is not sufficient that this oversight is merely a legal possibility without practical implications.

In the public debate, it has been frequently stated that the extensive right to make a municipal appeal regarding city planning is misused, which has led to calls to abolish the appeal institution. Focus on misuse has obscured the original purpose of the appeal institution, that is, enabling private citizens to control the legality of city planning. The purpose of this article is to determine whether private citizens exercise this legal control in practice. The article will also study justifications for the fears of misuse and possible alternatives for the legal control exercised by private citizens. The core of the article is an empirical study based on the rulings of administrative courts of Oulu and Kouvola from the year 2013 and comparison of these results to earlier empirical studies. The main finding of the research was that appeals done purely in the interest of controlling the legality of city planning are extremely rare. Alternative ways of legal control seem to be highly depended on the available resources and the people participating in the process. However, evidence on the misuse of the right to appeal was not found in this study. This article calls attention to the legal control of the city planning process in its current vulnerable state. It is not sufficient that this oversight is merely a legal possibility without practical implications.