Criticism of the supplementary application of the civil prescription regime to the sanctioning power of the state by national case law

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to renew the debate on the determination of the supplementary regime of extinctive prescription applicable to the exercise of the sanctioning power of the State Administration, on the basis of an examination of congruence between the purpose of the latter and those that have served as support for the civil and criminal regimes, respectively, taking into account the arguments put forward by the case-law of the Supreme Court to adhere to one or the other system. Thus, regarding the ideas of unity and coherence that should inform the construction of the Law as a system, we note that there is a teleological incongruence in the thesis that postulates the supplementary nature of the rules of the Civil Code in this matter, as it responds to the regulation, satisfaction and protection of legal assets of a patrimonial nature, and therefore, subject to the logic of principles such as the autonomy of the will and the free circulation of wealth, which are not rooted in the founding bases of the sanctioning powers of the Administration.