CHAPTER-I

INTRODUCTION
It is impossible to attempt any precise definition of administrative law which can cover the
entire range of administrative process. The American approach to administrative law is denoted
by the definition by the definition of administrative law as propounded by Davis.
According to him, administrative law is the law concerning the powers and procedures of
administrative agencies, including especially the law governing judicial review of
administrative action. It does not include the enormous mass of substantive law produced by
the agencies. An administrative agency, according to him, is a governmental authority, other
than a court and other than a legislative body, which affects the rights of private parties through
either adjudication or rule-making.

The emphasis in the definition is on judicial control of administrative agencies. But other
control mechanisms, like the parliamentary control of delegated legislation, control through
administrative appeals, and through the ombudsman type institution, are quite important and
significant and need to be studied for a fuller comprehension of administrative law.

Dicey has defined administrative law as denoting that portion of a nations legal system which
determines the legal status and liabilities of all state officials, which defines the rights and
liabilities of private individuals in their dealings with public officials, and which specifies the
procedure by which those rights and liabilities are enforced. The definition is narrow and
restrictive in so far as it leaves out of consideration many aspects of administrative law, e.g., it
excludes many administrative authorities, which strictly speaking, are not officials of the states
such as public corporations; it also excludes procedures of administrative authorities or their
various powers and functions, or their control by Parliament or in other ways, Diceys
formulation refers primarily to one aspect of administrative law, i.e. control of public officials.
Dicey formulated his definition with the droit administratif in view.

Sir Ivor Jennigs defines administrative law as the law relating to administration. It determines
the organization, powers and the duties of administrative authorities. This formulation does not
differentiate between administrative and constitutional law. It lays entire emphasis on the
organization, power and duties to the exclusion of the manner of their exercise. Jennings
formulation leaves many aspects of administrative law untouched, especially the control
mechanism. The English administrative law does not lay so much emphasis on procedures of
administrative bodies as does the American administrative law. Jennings; definition does not
attempt to distinguish constitutional law from administrative law, and the former in its usual
meaning has a great deal to say concerning the organization of administrative authorities.

A satisfactory and a proper formulation to define the scope, content and ambit of administrative
law appears to be s follows: Administrative law deals with the structure, powers and functions
of the organs of administration; the limits of their powers; the methods and procedures followed
by them in exercising their powers and functions; the methods by which their powers are

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controlled including the legal remedies available to a person against them when his rights are
infringed by their operation.

The term Rule of Law refers to a government based on principles of law and not of men. In
a democracy, the concept has assumed different dimension and means that the holders of public
powers must be able to justify publically that the exercise of power is legally valid and socially
just. Dicey developed this concept of Rule of Law. Dicey said Rule of Law means, the
absolute supremacy of predominance of regular law as opposed to the influence of arbitrary
power and excludes the existence of arbitrariness, or prerogative, or even wide discretionary
authority on the part of the government. According to him, wherever there is discretion there
is room for arbitrariness. The term Rule of Law is used in contradiction to rule of man and
rule according to law. It is modern name for natural law.

The term Rule of Law can be used in two senses: (i) formalistic sense: and (ii) ideological
sense. If used in the formalistic sense it refers to organized power as opposed to a rule by one
man and if used in an ideological sense it refers to the regulation of the relationship of the
citizen and the government and in this sense it becomes a concept of varied interest and
contents.

In its ideological sense, the concept of Rule of Law represents an ethical code for the exercise
of public power in any country. Strategies of this code may differ from society to society
depending on the societal needs at any given time, but its basis postulates are universal covering
all space and time. These postulates include equality, freedom and accountability.
Diceys formulation of the concept of Rule of Law, which according to him forms the basis
of the English Constitutional Law, contains three principles:
(i) Absence of discretionary power in the hands of the government officials.
(ii) No person should be made to suffer in body or deprived of his property except for a breach
of law established in the ordinary legal manner before the ordinary courts of the land. In this
sense, the Rule of Law implies:
(a) Absence of special privileges for a government official or any other person;
(b) All the persons irrespective of status must be subjected to the ordinary courts of the land;

(c) Everyone should be governed by the law passed by the ordinary legislative organs of the
State.

(iii) The rights of the people must flow from the customs and traditions of the people recognized
by the courts in the administration of justice.

Dicey claimed that the Englishmen were ruled by law and law alone; he denied that in England
the government was based on exercise by persons in authority of wide, arbitrary or
discretionary powers. While in many countries the executive exercised wide discretionary
power and authority, it was not so in England. Dicey asserted that wherever there was discretion
there was room for arbitrariness which led to insecurity of legal freedom of the citizens.

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 CHAPTER-II
NATURE AND SCOPE
Nature of Administrative Law
Administrative Law is a new branch of law that deals with the powers of the Administrative
authorities, the manner in which powers are exercised and the remedies which are available to
the aggreived persons, when those powers are abused by administrative authorities.

The Administrative process has come to stay and it has to be accepted as a necessary evil in
all progressive societies. Particularly in welfare state, where many schemes for the progress of
the society are prepared and administered by the government.

The execution and implementation of these programmes may adversely affect the rights of the
citizens. The actual problem is to reconcile social welfare with rights of the individual subjects.

The main object of the study of 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.

Scope of Administrative Law

There are several branches of the science of law. The Administrative Law is a recent branch of
the science of law. In the political science there are few Administrative organs. Certain
functions have been allotted to these organs in the Administrative Machinery. The
Administrative law deals with the structure, functions and powers of the Administrative organs.
It also lays down the methods and procedures which are to be followed by them during the
course of remedies which are available to the persons whose rights and other privileges are
damaged by their operations.

From the few lines above explaining the meaning of the Administrative law, we can notice the
exact scope of this new branch of Law.
The scope of Administrative law can be narrated as under :-

The methods and procedures of these Administrative organs are also studied by this new branch
of law.
It covers the nature of structure, powers and functions of all these administrative organs.

It also makes available all the relevant remedies to the persons whose rights are infringed by
the operations of these organs during the course of Administration.

Why and How the Administrative Organs are to be controlled is also viewed by the
Administrative law.
In this way alongwith the development in the Political Science and alongwith the idea of federal
Administration, the separate branch of Administrative law has been developed. It is to be

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clearly noted that this branch of Law is exclusively restricted to the Administrative organs only.
The delegated legislations are supposed to be the backbone of the Administrative law.

An Opinion of Prof. Wade

According to Prof. Wade, The organisation, the methods, the powers (Whether styled
Administrative, legislative or judicial) and the control by the judicial authority of all public
authorities is the ambit of Administrative law in United Kingdom. This is equally true with
regard to scope of Administrative law in India. With the growth of the powers of
Administrative authorities the question as how to control these powers became very relevant.
If the finally and exclusive character of Administrative action is not subjected to judicial
control and legislative responsibility it would not have in the society and that Hewart described
"New disposition would prevail over".

An Opinion of Freund
Freund, has brightly summed up in the following words the main concern of the subject :-
The main problem of Administrative law related to the nature and operation of official powers
(permits and orders, ministerial or discritionary scope and legitimacy of underlying
conditions), the formal procedural conditions for the exercise of powers, official and communal
liability, the specific remedies for the Judicial Control of administrative action (legal, equitable
and statutory) jurisdictional limitations of powers and, questions of Administrative finality

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 CHAPTER-III
FUNCTIONS
Administrative Law has come to be accepted as a necessary evil of all democratic countries of
the world where welfare schemes for the general body of people are planned. It has been
accepted as inevitable for modern states, more to because of the concept of a socialistic pattern
of society and a welfare state which has been introduced and administered by the government
in our country.

Primary Function of Administrative Law

As regards the functions of Administrative law. A primarily consists in finding be ways in
which Administration would be kept within a limit, so that the discretionary powers of
Administrative authorites could not become arbitrary powers.

According To Prof. Wade

"The central question in Administrative law is how the legal ideas of fair procedure and just
decision can be infused into the Administrative powers of the state".

Administrative law supplies solution to the problem of reconciling freedom and justice for the
private citizen with the necessities of a modern government charged with the promotion of
social and economic policies in our country. If proper means of control executive and judicial,
improving the procedure and extending the scope of judicial review are imposed on
Administrative process, dangers of its being arbitrary are reduced.
According To Benjamin

"The task of administrative law is to reconcile, in the filed of administrative action, the
democratic safeguards, standard of fair play with the effective conduct of the government".

Functions and responsibilities of the Administrative Law Judge.

Once he has been assigned the case, the Administrative Law Judge shall be responsible for the
fair and orderly conduct of a formal decisional proceeding and shall have the authority:
(a) To issue such orders as are described in 12.34 of these rules;
(b) To issue subpoenas pursuant to 12.34, 12.36, and 12.313 of these rules;

(c) To take such action as is appropriate pursuant to 12.35 if a party fails to comply with a
discovery order, or an order issued pursuant to 12.34 of these rules;
(d) [Reserved]

(e) In his discretion, to conduct pre-decision conferences, for the purposes prescribed in
12.303, at any time after a proceeding has commenced pursuant to 12.26(c);
(f) To issue pre-hearing orders as required by 12.312(a);

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(g) To certify interlocutory matters to the Commission for its determination in accordance with
12.309;
(h) To issue orders of dismissal pursuant to 12.308;

(i) To issue default orders for good cause against parties who fail to participate in the
proceeding, or to comply with these rules;
(j) If appropriate, to issue orders for summary disposition in the manner prescribed by 12.310;

(k) If an oral hearing is ordered, to preside at the oral hearing, which shall include the authority
to receive relevant evidence, to administer oaths and affirmations, to examine witnesses, and
to rule on offers of proof;
(l) To make the initial decision; and
(m) To issue such orders, and take any other actions as are required to give effect to these rules.

Powers and Functions of Administartive Agencies

Powers and functions of administrative agencies are interchangeable meaning administrative
powers can be executive, legislative, or judicial in nature. These agencies are vested with the
responsibility to interpret guidelines consistently in order to avoid arbitrary and capricious
results. Administrative agency decisions can be reversed as arbitrary or capricious if the
decisions lack fairness and if it fails to indicate any course of reasoning and the exercise of
judgment[i].

The Legislature is considered to be the main source of power of an administrative agency.

Administrative agencies only carry the powers conferred upon them either by the statute or by
the constitution. Administrative agencies derive their powers from their enabling legislation
and it cannot exceed that power which is granted by the legislature[ii]. However,
administrative agencies do not carry any inherent, general or common law powers[iii].

Generally, most of the administrative agencies have investigative, rulemaking, and

determinative functions. Additionally, some statutory schemes permits administrative
enforcement, and some administrative agencies are given express authority to reconsider,
amend, correct, or modify orders.

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 CHAPTER-IV
CONCLUSSION

The proximity of the administrative process to the judicial process

There is no doubt that the administrative process for reviewing an AMP is distinct from that
which would be applied by a court in a provincial offence. As described above, the reviewing
officers - that is, the Screening Officer and the Hearing Officer are not judicial officials and
under the Regulations they are appointed by the municipality. The first stage of review by a
Screening Officer does not require any form of hearing and the City of Vaughan has
approached this Regulatory provision by allowing the recipient of the penalty to attend a
meeting with the Screening Officer. Since the Enforcement Officer is not required to attend,
the process is not adversarial as in a court, but more in the nature of a mediation. The second
stage of review according to the Regulations does require that the Hearings Officer grant the
requester an opportunity to be heard. However, the rules of evidence are not those of a court
and the hearings process is less formal.

One resemblance between the AMPS enacted for parking infractions in Ontario and a judicial
proceeding is the apparently open-ended discretion given to the reviewing authorities in
determining the penalty that is actually imposed, albeit within the very small range of up to
$100. It is difficult however, to conclude that this resemblance should be determinative when
there is no indication that traditional sentencing principles i.e. specific and general deterrence,
rehabilitation, the nature of the act under consideration, for example, would all be weighed to
the exclusion of any other factors, as it would in a court proceeding. The authors of a 2008
discussion paper prepared by the Administrative Justice Office of the Ministry of the Attorney
General for British Columbia concluded that an AMP scheme may give a statutory decision
maker discretion as to whether to impose a penalty and/or a discretion about the amount of the
penalty to be imposed.

Impact of the decision to impose the amp on the person affected

This indicator is by no means determinative of whether decision makers have any obligation
to act judicially and the extent of their obligation if one exists. This is exemplified by more
recent cases such as Martineau in which a forfeiture order of $315,000 was not sufficient to
invoke the Charter protection against self-incrimination .In Lavallee a maximum AMP of one
million dollars as well as non-monetary sanctions such as life- time trading bans were not
sufficient to invoke any obligation to apply the laws of evidence applicable to judicial
proceedings. Had the criminal sanction of imprisonment been available, there would, on the
other hand, have been an obligation to act judicially. The AMPS for parking infractions have
relatively small maximum monetary penalties as well as the potential to withhold driving
privileges if the penalties are not paid.