The principle ignorantia iuris nocet commonly functions in the Polish legal system, but its meaning is belittled through specific legislation. One such a provision is Article. 9 of the Code of Administrative Procedure, expressing the principle of informing the parties, which imposes on the public authorities the duty to make sure that the parties and other participants have not suffered damage because of ignorance of the law. The case-law of administrative courts sets limits on the use of both principles, which means that in a particular case one of them will be of a greater importance. This leads to a slightly different understanding of the maxim ignorantia iuris nocet in the times of wider access to legal information, also in connection with the Polish administrative proceedings.

Keywords: the procedure, administration, principles, case law.