INTRODUCTION TO

ADMINISTRATIVE LAW

Course Code: 108

Prepared by: Nabila Farhin
Lecturer,
Department of Law,
East West University
DEFINITION OF ADMINISTRATIVE LAW

It is concerned with the powers and functions

of the executive branch of the government, it’s
organization, their inter relationship with each
other, citizens and non-governmental entities.

According to Griffith and Street, the main

object of administrative law is the operation
and control of administrative authorities.
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A.V Dicey said, Administrative Law is that
portion of national legal system,
which determines the legal status and liabilities of all
states of officials,
which defines the rights and liabilities of private
individual in their dealings with public officials,

And which specifies the procedures by which those

rights and liabilities are enforced.
Ivor Jennings said, “Administrative Law is
the law relating to the administration. It
determines the organization, powers and
duties of the administrative authorities.”

This is the most important and widely

accepted definition.
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But according to Griffith and Street, there are some
difficulties with this definition:
It does not distinguish administrative law from constitutional
law
It is a very wide definition, for the law which determines the
powers and functions of administrative authorities may also
deal with the substantive aspects of such power, for example,
legislations relating to public health services, houses, town
and country planning etc.; but these are not included within
the scope and ambit of administrative law.
And it does not include remedies available to an aggrieved
person when his legal rights are adversely affected by the
administration.
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According to Wade, “Administrative law is the law

relating to the control of the government.”
In his opinion the primary object of Administrative
Law is to keep powers of the Government within their
legal bounds, so as to protect the citizens against their
abuse.
But this definition does not define the subject. It also
dos not deal with the powers and duties of
administrative authorities not with the procedure
required to be followed by them.
According to Griffith and Street, the main object
of administrative law is the operation and control
of administrative authorities, it must deal with the
following three aspects:
What sort of power does the administration exercise?
What are the limits of those powers?
What are the ways in which the Administration kept
within those limits?
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Administrative law is the branch of law which

deals with the composition, power, duties and
limits of the administrative authorities, the
procedure followed by them in exercising the
powers, discharging duties and the remedies
available to an aggrieved person when his
rights are affected by and action of such
authorities.
Administrative law deals with four aspects:

It deals with composition and the powers of

administrative authorities
It fixes the limits of the powers of those authorities
It prescribes the procedure to be followed by these
authorities in exercising such powers.
It controls these administrative authorities through
judicial and other means.
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The State has three organs: Executive,

Legislative and Judiciary.

In strict sense administrative law deals with the

functioning of the executive.
NATURE AND SCOPE OF ADMINISTRATIVE
LAW
The Constitutional and Administrative Law are branches
of Public law.
While constitutional law describes the various organs of
the sovereign power, administrative law describes them as
in motion.
It deals with the power of administrative authorities.
Because of the increase in the state activities, the executive
exercised very wide powers. Apart from pure
administrative and executive functions, by way of
delegated legislation it exercises legislative functions. It
also exercises judicial powers for adjudication of disputes
by administrative tribunals.
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The main object of the study of the

administrative law is to unravel the way in
which these administrative authorities could
be kept within their limits so that the
discretionary powers may not be turned into
arbitrary powers.
FUNCTIONS OF ADMINISTRATIVE LAW
The legislative functions of the administrative
authorities is to make subordinate legislation,
rules, orders and the like in exercise of powers
conferred by statutes.

In making subordinate legislation, the

administrative authorities do not exceed the
powers conferred by the relevant statutes, and the
doctrine which is applied by the courts is ultra
vires.
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There are many administrative authorities which
are empowered by statute to exercise
quasi-judicial powers, that is to say to determine
the rights of parties, without being courts.

Some of such authorities are commonly known as

administrative tribunal.

The rest of the functions of the administrative

authorities are purely administrative.
 REASONS OF GROWTH OF
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW
There is a radical change in the philosophy as to the
role played by the state. The negative policy of
maintaining ‘Law and Order’ and of ‘laizzez faire’
given up.
The state has adopted the positive policy and as a
welfare state has undertaken to perform varies
functions.
The judicial system proved inadequate to decide and
settle all types of dispute. It was slow, costly,
inexpert, complex and formalistic.
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Industrial tribunals and labour courts were

established, which possessed the techniques and
expertise to handle these complex problems.

The legislative process was also inadequate. They

were found to be inadequate and defective.

Therefore, it was felt necessary to delegate some

powers to the administrative authorities. There is
scope for experiments in administrative process.
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Legislation is rigid in character while the
administrative process is flexible.
The administrative authorities can avoid
technicalities.
Administrative law represents functional rather than
a theoretical and legalistic approach.

The administrative tribunals are not bound by rules

of evidence and procedure and they can take a
practical view of the matter to decide complex
problems.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ADMINISTRATIVE
LAW AND CONSTITUTIONAL LAW

The distinction between the Constitutional law

and Administrative law is one of degree and
convenience rather than principle.

Constitutional law is concerned with the

organization and functions of Government at rest,
Administrative law is concerned with the
organization and functions in motion
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While constitutional law deals with the general
principles relating to the organization and power of
the organs of the State and their relations inter se and
towards the citizens,

administrative law is that aspect of constitutional law

which deals in detail with powers and functions of the
administrative authorities, including the civil service,
public departments, local authorities and other
statutory bodies.
 HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW
England
In 1885,Dicey in his famous thesis on rule of law
observed that there was no administrative law in
England.

But he ignored administrative discretion and

administrative justice of that time.

But later in 1914 he admitted that, legislation has

conferred a considerable amount of quasi-judicial
authority on the administration.
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Dicey misunderstood the scope and ambit of
administrative law.

He thought administrative law to be inconsistent

with the maintenance of rule of law.

So, while studying rule of law, he excluded

altogether administrative law and a special system
of administrative courts.
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The study of administrative law suffered a lot due to
Dicey’s conservative approach.

But though the scholars made conscious effort to know

the real position, but even to them it is only restricted to
the study of two aspects of administrative law: delegated
legislation and administrative adjudication.

The abandonment of famous doctrine “the king can do

no wrong” expanded the scope of administrative law in
England.
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USA
Administrative law was in existence in America in the 18th
century, when the first federal administrative law was
embodied in the statute in 1789.

The Bench and Bar also took interest in the study of

administrative law.

The powers of the administrative bodies continued to in

crease day by day and they become the Fourth Branch of
the government.

After New Deal, it was felt necessary to take effective steps

in this field.
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France
French administrative law or driot administratif is a
branch of law which deals with the powers and duties
of various administrative agencies and officials.

In France:
The relation of the government and its officials towards
private citizens must be regulated by a body of rules
which may differ considerably from the law which
govern the relation of one private person with another.
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The ordinary courts which determine disputes between
private individuals have no jurisdiction to decide disputes
between a private individual and a state, but they are
determined by administrative courts.

In case of conflict of jurisdiction between two sets of

courts, the said dispute will be decided by the
administrative court.
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Droit administratif has a tendency to protect from the

supervision or control of the ordinary law courts any
servant of the State who is guilty of an act, however
illegal, acting bona fide in obedience to the orders of
his superiors and in the discharge of his official duties.

The popular conception was the in France, the State

officials in their official dealings with private citizens
are above the law.
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India:
Administrative law existed in India in the ancient
times.

The Rule of Dharmya was observed by the kings and

administrative in India and nobody claimed
exemption from it.

The basic principles of natural justice and fair play

were followed by the kings and administrators.
Thank You