Political Dictionary: administrative law

Political Dictionary: administrative law The law relating to the control of government power, including the detailed rules which govern the exercise of administrative decision taking. Despite A. V. Dicey's reluctance in his Law of the Constitution (1885) to accept the idea of specific and specialized legal rules governing administrative decisions, English law has developed administrative law especially since c.1960. Lord Diplock 1982 regarded the development of English administrative law ‘as having been the greatest achievement of the English Courts in my judicial lifetime’. Primarily the courts have developed general principles to ensure that all public authorities must act within the powers granted to them by Act of Parliament. Such principles include reasonableness in making decisions and principles of natural justice to ensure fair procedure. Discretion must not be abused and decisions must be made according to law and not outside the powers of the Act, which might make them ultra vires. Under section 31 of the Supreme Court Act 1981, and Rules of the Supreme Court, Order 53, an applicant may seek judicial review. This procedure permits an application for such remedies as a judicial order or damages as is appropriate to the facts of the case. The various remedies available under English law are mandamus, prohibition, or certiorari and the private law group of remedies such as declaration, injunction, or damages. Leave to apply for judicial review must first be obtained in the Crown Office before a judge and usually on affidavit or written evidence. Once leave is granted there may be a hearing of the case where all the parties may be represented. The matter which is the subject of complaint must be a ‘public law’ question and the courts have defined the exact meaning of this term on a case-by-case basis since the House of Lords decision in O'Reilly v. Mackman [1983] AC 237. Applications for judicial review have steadily increased since 1981. The subjects for review extend from immigration disputes, housing, local government, and planning matters. The English system of administrative law has developed on a case-by-case basis in marked contrast to administrative law in both the United States and in France, which owes its development to the nature of the written constitution in both jurisdictions.