Competence is the authorization of the authority to issue certain legal acts. However, each authority may only act within the jurisdiction established by the legislature. Therefore, each party to the proceedings has the right to have the matter handled by the competent authority—this is also referred to as the principle of fixed allocation of jurisdiction.
If an authority claims competence that it does not actually have or wrongly rejects a competence assigned to it and thus refuses to make a substantive decision, the constitutionally guaranteed right to a statutory judge under Art. 83 (2) of the Federal Constitution is also violated—accordingly, no one may be deprived of their statutory judge.
In connection with the competence of the authorities, the following distinctions are essential:
- Subject matter competence:
Subject matter competence is the authority of the administrative authority to take enforcement actions in certain matters, thus covering its area of responsibility. It should be noted, however, that the competence to determine jurisdiction lies with the material legislator (Note: Material laws are laws that regulate specific areas; e.g., Trade Act, Public Security Act, Firearms Act). For example, the Trade Act generally provides for the competence of the district administrative authority (cf. § 333 Trade Act), whereas the Public Security Act (SPG) generally declares the State Police Directorate to be competent (cf. § 5 SPG). Only in the event that the material legislator has not regulated the jurisdiction does the AVG apply subsidiarily, which generally establishes the competence of the district administrative authority. - Local competence:
In exercising subject matter competence, the authorities are spatially limited to their local jurisdiction. The local jurisdiction is primarily regulated by the material legislator. If he does not do so, it is again regulated by the AVG, which distinguishes depending on the subject matter (e.g., immovable property, operation of a business).
