1.

Administrative Law distinguished from Constitutional Law

1

1.
a. Constitutional Law prescribes the general plan or framework of government
organization, while administrative law gives and carries out this plan in its minutest
details;
b. Constitutional treats of the rights of the individual, while administrative law treats
them from the standpoint of the powers of the government, the first lays stress upon
rights, the second emphasizes the powers of the government and duties of the
citizens; and
c. Constitutional law prescribes limitations on the powers of the government to protect
the rights of individuals against abuse in their exercise, while administrative law
indicates to individuals, remedies for the violation of their rights.

Insofar as it fixes or regulates the administrative organization of the government,
administrative law is the necessary supplement of constitutional law. But administrative
law not only supplements constitutional law; it also complements constitutional law
insofar as it determines the rules relative to the activity of the administrative authorities.

2. Purpose of Administrative Law.
a. Help unclog court dockets;
b. Meet the growing complexities of modern society;
c. Help in the regulation of ramified activities of a developing country; and
d. Entrust to specialized agencies the task of dealing with problems as they have the
experience, expertise, and power of dispatch to provide solution thereto.

3. Administration. The aggregate of those persons in whose hands the reins of govt. are
for the time being [the chief ministers or heads of departments]. [US v. Dorr, GR No.
1051. May 19, 1903].
a. Administration as a function
i. It is the execution, in non-judicial matters, of the law or will of the state as
expressed by the competent authority. It is the activity of the executive officers of
the govt taken in this narrow but proper sense.
ii. It is the government in action as opposed to deliberation of the rendering of
judicial decision and can be found in all the manifestations of executive action.
iii. This has to do with carrying the laws into effect their application to the current
affairs by way of management and oversight, including investigation, regulation
and control, in accordance with and in execution of the principles prescribed by
the lawmaker.
b. Administration as an Organization
i. It is that group of aggregate persons in whose hands, the reign of government are
for the time being.

1
Administrative Law: Text and Cases 2001 edition Hector S. de Leon and Hector M. de Leon, page 5-6
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ii. Indicates the entire administrative organization extending down from the
President to the most humble of his subordinates. It is the totality of the
executive and administrative authorities.

2.4. Administration of justice distinguished from administration of
government.
2


Those charged with administration of justice are known as judicial officers while
those charged with administration of government are known as public officers.

The difference between the two (2) function lies in the nature of the work done by
the two (2) groups of officers.

The work done by the former consists in the decision of controversies between
individuals and government officers as to the applicability in the cases in question of a
particular rule of law. On the other hand, Tthe work done by the latter is not necessary,
or even often, the result of the controversy and is not merely dependent on the solution
of the question what is the law, but made also as a result of the consideration of
expediency. On the other hand the work done by the former consists in the decision of
controversies between individuals and government officers as to the applicability in the
cases in question of a particular rule of law.

Thus, in the first kind of work, all that judicial officers have to do is determine
what law is applicable to the facts brought before them; in the second kind of work,
administrative officers must determine, of course, what is the law in order to determine
whether they are competent to act, but furthermore, they must decide whether in case
they are competent to act, it is wise for them to act.

5. Is conflict necessary in any public or private administration?
Conflict is not necessary in any public or private administration. However one of
the classification of administrative law is the body of legal principles governing the acts
of public agents which conflict with private rights. Other classification of
administration are as follows:
a. That body of statutes setting up or creating administrative agencies and endowing
them with power and duties;
b. That body of agency-made law, i.e., rules, regulations and orders promulgated in the
exercise of quasi-legislative and quasi-judicial functions; and
c. That body of determinations, decisions and orders of administrative bodies made in
the settlement of controversies arising in their particular fields.


In the second kind of work, all that judicial officers have to do is determine what
law is applicable to the facts brought to them

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Ibid at 17-18
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