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delegation of power.
Two major powers of the
administrative agency:
PHILIPPINE
ADMINISTRATIVE
LAW
By
Carlo L. Cruz
1. Quasi-legislative authority or
rule making power
2. Quasi-judicial power or
adjudicatory function
Sources of Administrative
Law
Addministrative law is derived
from four sources or is of four (4)
kinds:
1. Constitution or statutory
enactments e.g. Social
Security Act which established
the Social Security Commission.
2. Decisions of courts
interpreting the charters of
administrative bodies
3. Rules and regulations
issued by the administrative
bodies e.g. Omnibus Rules
Implementing the Labor Code.
4. Determinations and orders
of the administrative bodies
in the settlement of
controversies
Administration
Administration is understood in
two senses:
Chapter 1
General
Considerations
Nature
Administrative Law that
branch of modern law under
which the executive department
of the government, acting in a
quasi-legislative or quasi-judicial
capacity, interferes with the
conduct of the individual for the
purpose of promoting the wellbeing of the community.
Administrative law is a recent
development , being a
consequence of the ever
increasing complexities of society
and the proliferation of problems
of government that cannot
readily or effectively be
addressed by the public agencies
or solved by other disciplines of
public law.
It was felt that thelegislative and
judicial departments no longer
had either the time or the needed
expertise to attend to these new
problems.
Definition
Administrative agency a body
endowed with quasi-legislative
and quasi-judicial powers for the
purpose of enabling it to carry
out the laws entrusted to it for
enforcement or execution.
Administrative agency may be
regarded as an arm of the
legislature insofar as it is
authorize to promulgate rules. It
may also be loosely considered a
court because it performs
functions of a particular judicial
character, as when it decides
factual and sometimes even legal
questions as an incident of its
general power of regulation.
Creation and Abolition
The administrative body may be
created by the Constitution or
by a Statute.
If created by the Constitution
itself, the administrative body can
be altered or abolished only by
Constitution. But where the body
was created only by statute, the
legislature that breathed life into
it can amend or even repeal its
charter, thereby resulting in its
abolition which is justified if
made in good faith.
Chapter 3
1. institution administration
as the aggregate of individuals in
whose hands the reins of
government are for the time
being.
2. function administration as
the actual running of the
government by the executive
authorities through the
enforcement of laws and
implementation of policies.
Government (as distinguished
from administration) is the
agency or instrumentality
through which the will of the
State is formulated, expressed
and realized.
Administration Distinguished
from Law
Law is impersonal command
provided with sanctions to be
applied in case of violation, while
Administration is preventive
rather punitive and is accepted to
be more personal than law.
Law maintains a watchful eye on
those who would violate its order.
While administration on the other
hand seeks to spare individuals
from punishments of the law by
persuading him to observe its
commands.
Chapter 2
Administrative Agencies
Powers of Administrative
Agencies
Quasi-Legislative Power the
authority delegated by the lawmaking body to the
administrative body to adopt
rules and regulations intended to
carry out the provisions of a law
and implement legislative policy.
Quasi-Judicial Power the
power of the administrative
authorities to make
determinations of facts in the
performance of their official
duties and to apply the law as
they construe it to the facts so
found.
Chapter 4
The Quasi-Legislative
Power
It has already been remarked
that the rule-making power of
the administrative body is
intended to enable it to
implement the policy of the law
and to provide for the more
effective enforcement of its
provisions.
Through the exercise of this
power of subordinate legislation,
it is possible for the
administrative body to transmit
the active power of the state
from its source to the point of
Chapter 5
The Quasi-Judicial Power
Quasi-judicial power is the
power of the administrative
agency to determine questions of
fact to which the legislative policy
is to apply, in accordance with
the standards laid down by the
law itself.
The proper exercise of the quasijudicial power requires
C. Administrative Appeals
and review
Unless otherwise provided by law
or executive order, an appeal
from a final decision of the
administrative agency may be
taken to the department head,
whose decision may further be
brought to the regular courts of
justice, in accordance with the
procedure specified by law.
D. Enforcement of Decision
In the absence of any statute
providing for the enforcement of
an administrative determination,
the same cannot be enforced
except possibly by appeal to the
force of public opinion.
Usually, however, the
administrative body is allowed
certain sanctions that it may
impose directly for the
enforcement of its own decisions,
i.e. revocation of or refusal to
renew licenses, destruction of
unlawful articles, summary
closure of stores, refusal to grant
clearances, issuance of cease and
desist orders, detention and
deportation of aliens, and
imposition of fines.
Significantly, many administrative
bodies, such as the SEC and the
NLRC, have been vested with
authority to grant provisional
reliefs, such as writs of
preliminary attachment or
It is established that
administrative agencies who have
not been conferred the power to
enforce their quasi-judicial
decisions may invoke court action
for the purpose.
E. Res Judicata
Chapter 6
Judicial Review
General Rules
An administrative decision may
be appealed to the courts of
justice only if the Constitution or
the law permits it or if the
question to be reviewed is a
question of law.
However, jurisprudence is replete
with cases where the Supreme
Court has applied the exceptions
rather than the rule.
In the case of the constitutional
commission, i.e., the Commission
on Elections, the Commission on
Audit, and the Civil Service
Commission, it is provided that
any decision order or ruling of
each Commission may be
brought to the Supreme Court on
certiorari by the aggrieved party
Doctrine of Exhaustion of
Administrative Remedies
Under the doctrine of
exhaustion of administrative
remedies, an administrative
decision must first be
appealed to the
administrative superior up to
the highest level before it
may be elevated to a court of
justice for review.
A. Reasons
(1)
The administrative
superiors, if given the
opportunity, can correct the
errors committed by their
subordinates;
(2)
Courts should as
much as possible refrain
from disturbing the findings
of administrative bodies in
deference to the doctrine of
separation of powers;
(3)
On practical grounds,
it is best that the courts
should not be saddled with
the review of administrative
cases;
(4)
Judicial review of
administrative cases is
usually effected through
the special civil actions of
certiorari, mandamus and
prohibition, which are
available only if there is no
other plain, speedy and
adequate remedy.
B. Exceptions
(1)
When the question
raised is purely legal
(question of law is
involved);
(2)
When the
administrative body is
estoppel;
(3)
When the act
complained of is patently
illegal;
(4)
When there is urgent
need for judicial
intervention;
(5)
When the claim
involved is small;
(6)
When irreparable
damage will be suffered;
(7)
When there is no
other plain, speedy and
adequate remedy;
(8)
When strong public
interest is involved;
(9)
When the subject of
the controversy is private
land;
(10)
In quo warranto
proceedings
C. Appeal to the
President
Of special interest is the question
of whether or not a decision of
A. Questions of fact