Administrative Law

Administrative law is the body of those rules which regulate and control the administration.

It is that branch of law which deals with the composition of powers, duties, rights and responsibilities of the various government bodies involved in public administration. In this Law, we study all those rules, laws and procedures that help regulate and control the administrative machinery properly.

Definitions:

According to Dicey,

“Administrative Law is that portion of a nation’s legal system which determines the legal status and liabilities of all state officials and defines the rights and liabilities of private individuals in their dealing with public officials and specifies the procedure by which those rights and liabilities are enforced.”

According to Famous jurist Ivor Jennings in his book “Law and the Constitution” “the law relating to administration. It determines the organisation, powers and duties of administrative authorities.”

According to K. C. Davis, ” the law concerns the powers and procedures of administrative agencies, including especially the law governing judicial review of administrative action”. … It includes the entire legal field except the legislature and the Judiciary.

According to Sir Griffith and Street – “The main object of administrative law is the operation and control of administrative authorities. It must deal with the following aspects:

1. What sort of power does the administration exercise?
2. What are the limits of those powers?
3. What are the ways in which the administration is kept within those limits?

But  According to the Indian Law Institute improvement in Sir Griffith and Street’s definition  the following two questions must be added to have a complete idea of present it-

• What are the procedures followed by administrative authorities?
• What are the remedies available to a person affected by administration?

According to Garner, administrative law may be described as “Those rules which are recognised by the court as law and which relates to and regulate the administration of government.”

Thus, it is the law which is relating to administration and determines the organization, powers and the duties of administrative authorities.

Broadly, this law deals with composition and powers of different organs of administration, the limits of their powers; the procedure which the administrative authorities adopt in the exercise of their powers and the various modes of control including particularly judicial control over the different kinds of powers exercised by them.

Precisely, it deals with the quasi – legislative and quasi- judicial powers of the administrative authorities as also their executive powers and their control.

Areas of Administrative Law

Under this, administrative bodies are studied. Like Central Board of Revenue, Commission of Inquiry.
Law-making capacity of administrative agencies such as Tribunals.
Study of judicial functions of administrative agencies like Industrial Tribunal.
Remedies on abuse of administrative powers such as writ remedies and their study.
natural justice.
Contractual and tortious liability of the Center and the State.
Public Corporation.

Reasons for the development of administrative law

Approach to public welfare, industrialization and urbanization in the actions of the states.
Administrative interference on public life and problems arising out of it, easy access to justice in various fields, development of science and technology and problems arising out of it.
Decentralization of economic resources and ensuring economic social justice.

Sources of administrative law
Indian Constitution,
statutes,
Ordinances, Administrative Directions, Notifications and Circulars, Judicial Decisions.
delegated legislation

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