信賴保護原則之信賴基礎

Abstract

信賴保護原則之信賴基礎，乃係人民信賴國家行為之對象，為信賴保護原則之首要要件。人民在訴願或行政訴訟上欲具體適用信賴保護原則，必須先找出一個國家行為，作為信賴基礎，主張其依信賴基礎所賦予之信賴利益，係屬於值得保護之信賴利益，不容國家嗣後剝奪侵犯。然而國家行為形態種類繁多，究竟何種國家行為始得成為人民主張信賴保護原則之信賴基礎？本文研究現行信賴保護原則法律制度、相關行政機關行政實務、行政法院裁判及大法官解釋，歸納整理得出信賴基礎之一般法律性質，必須具備外部性、規制性及穩定性三大法律特質。所謂信賴基礎之「外部性」，係指國家行為必須對外表示，成為人民信賴之對象；信賴基礎之「規制性」，係指國家行為必須規範形成人民與國家機關間之權利義務關係，並足以讓人產生信賴；信賴基礎之「穩定性」，係指信賴基礎依其性質必須有一定程度之不可變動性，且其規範目的本身並未有排除人民信賴保護之意旨。信賴基礎之外部性、規制性及穩定性，乃係判斷各種國家行為，包含行政、立法及司法行為，得否作為信賴基礎之一般性判斷基準。若國家行為欠缺信賴基礎之三大法律特質其中之一，在法律評價上無法作為人民主張信賴保護原則之信賴基礎。因此，信賴基礎之三大法律特質，能夠使信賴基礎發揮其作為信賴保護原則適用要件之功能，過濾出真正應給予人民適當信賴保護之案件，排除沒有保護必要之案件。唯有透過信賴保護原則適用要件之精緻化，建立可操作性之判斷基準，才能使信賴保護原則不致流於抽象模糊，喪失其規範功能或受到濫用。

The reliance basis for the Principle of Legitimate Expectation is the subject of people’s reliance on state manifestation. It is the major requirement for the Principle of Legitimate Expectation. Should people wish to apply the Principle of Legitimate Expectation in lodging complaints and instituting legal proceedings, they should first identify a state manifestation as the reliance basis and proclaim that the legitimate privileges it endows shall be protected against expropriation and infringement by the state. However, which one among the numerous types of state manifestation shall become the reliance basis for the Principle of Legitimate Expectation that people claim? This thesis studies the legal system, administrative practice of related administrative organizations, rulings of the administrative courts and the grand justice interpretation regarding the current Principle of Legitimate Expectation. To sum up, the general legal nature of reliance basis should possess three main legal characteristics – externalization, regulation and stability. The “externalization” of reliance basis means that a state should externally claim to be the subject of people’s reliance. The “regulation” of reliance basis means that the state manifestation should standardize and form the relationship of rights and duties between people and state authorities, and should be trustworthy. The “stability” of reliance basis represents that the reliance basis should be unchangeable to some extent regarding its legal nature and that its regulating purpose should not obviate the intention of legitimate expectation for the people. The externalization, regulation and stability of reliance basis are the general judgment benchmarks to determine whether the state manifestations, including administrative, legislative and judicial manifestations, are qualified as the reliance basis. If a state manifestation lacks one of the three important legal characteristics of reliance basis, it is not qualified to become the reliance basis of the Principle of Legitimate Expectation from a legal point of view. Hence, the three important legal characteristics can facilitate the functions of reliance basis as the major requirement for the application of legitimate expectation, filter the cases that truly require protection of people’s legitimate expectation, and eliminate the cases for which protection is not necessary. Only through a refinement of major requirements for the Principle of Legitimate Expectation and the establishment of feasible benchmarks can free the Principle of Legitimate Expectation from abstraction and vagueness, or losing its regulating functions or being abused.