Constitutional Law

Constitutional law is the body of law which defines the relationship of different entities
within a state, namely, the executive, the legislature, and the judiciary. Constitutional law can
be defined as the written text of the state and federal constitutions. The bodies of judicial
precedent that has gradually developed through a process in which courts interpret, apply,
and explain the meaning of particular constitutional provisions and principles during a legal
proceeding.

The text of the U.S. Constitution is marked by four characteristics:

a delegation of power, in which the duties and prerogatives of the executive, legislative, and
judicial branches are delineated by express constitutional provisions;

a Separation of Powers, in which the responsibilities of government are divided and shared
among the coordinate branches; sovereignty reserved to the state governments; and

a limitation of power, in which the prerogatives of the three branches of government are
restricted by constitutionally enumerated individual right as, Unremunerated Rights derived
from sources outside the text of the Constitution,

and other constraints inherent in a democratic system where the ultimate source of authority
for government action is the consent of the people.

In deciding their cases, courts look to these constitutional provisions and principles for
guidance. Once a court has interpreted a constitutional provision in a certain fashion, it
becomes a precedent. Under the doctrine of Stare Decisis, the judicial branch is required to
adhere to existing precedent in all future cases presenting analogous factual and legal
circumstances, unless it has a compelling reason for deviating from the precedent or
overruling it. A state or federal law is said to be constitutional when it is consistent with the
text of a constitutional provision and any relevant judicial interpretations. A law that is
inconsistent with either the written text or judicial interpretation of a constitutional provision
is unconstitutional.

Distinguishing Administrative & Constitutional Law

Sometimes, a question is asked as to whether there is any distinction between constitutional

law and administrative law. Till recently, the subject of administrative law was dealt with and
discussed in the books of constitutional law and no separate and independent treatment was
given to it. In many definitions of administrative law, it was included in constitutional law.

The relationship between constitutional and administrative law is complex. In general,

written constitutions tend to say relatively little about the administrative state. General due
process type considerations may apply particularly to administrative agencies.[3] More
directly, of course, constitutions control the administrative state through founding the
structures of government, providing chains of accountability and democratic legitimacy for
the decisions of administrative.
Though in essence constitutional law does not differ from administrative law inasmuch as
both are concerned with functions of the government and both are a part of public law in the
modern State and the sources of both are the same and they are thus inter-related and
complementary to each other belonging to one and the same family. Strict differentiation,
therefore, is not possible, yet there is a distinction between the two. According to Maitland,
while constitutional law deals with structure and the broader rules which regulate the
functions, the details of the functions are left to administrative law.

The orthodox understanding is that the fields of constitutional and administrative law share
similar purposes of protection of rights, control of agency costs, and limitation of
government. The primary difference, in this view, concerns their place in the hierarchy of
public law: constitutional law regulates the highest norms of the state, while administrative
law rules sub-legislative action, somewhat lower in the hierarchy of sources.

According to Hood Phillips, “Constitutional law is concerned with the organization and
functions of Government at rest whilst administrative law is concerned with that organization
and those functions in motion.”[4] But the opinion of English and American authors is that
the distinction between constitutional law and administrative law is one of degree,
convenience and custom rather than that of logic and principle. It is not essential and
fundamental in character. Keith Rightly remarks: “It is logically impossible to distinguish
administrative law from constitutional law and all attempts to do so are
artificial.”[5] According to Maitland, “while constitutional law deals with structure and the
broader rules which regulate the functions, the details of the functions are left to the
administrative law”. So, constitutional law deals with the general principles relating to the
organization and power of the legislature, executive and judiciary and their functions inter se
and towards the citizen, administrative law is that part of constitutional law which deals in
detail with the powers and functions of the administrative authorities, including civil services,
public departments, local authorities and other statutory bodies. At the end, constitutional law
is concerned with constitutional status of ministers and civil servants; administrative law is
concerned with the organization of the service and the proper working of various departments
of the government.

A table of distinguishable features of both administrative and constitutional law is provided

below.

Constitutional Law

1. Constitutional law is its own kind.

2. Constitutional law deals with various departments of the state.

3. It deals with the structure of the state.

4. It is the highest law.

 5. It gives the guidelines with regard to the general principles relating to organization
and powers of organs of the state, and their relations between citizens and towards the
state. It touches almost all branches of laws in the country.

6. It also gives the guidelines about the international relations.

Administrative Law

1. Administrative law is a species of constitutional law.

2. It deals with those organs as in motion.

3. It deals with the functions of the state.

4. It is subordinate to constitutional law.

5. It deals in details with the powers and functions of administrative authorities.

6. It does not deal with international law. It deals exclusively the powers and functions
of administrative authorities.

Conclusion

Although the relationship between constitutional law and administrative law is not very
distinct to be seen with bare eyes but the fact remains that related points are neither so blurred
that one has to look preciously with a magnifier to locate the relationship. The
aforementioned validities and illustrations provide a clear evidence to establish an essential
relationship between the fundamentals of both the concepts. If doubts still remains, the very
fact that each author, without the exception of a single, tends to differentiate between the two
branches of law commands the hypothecation of a huge intersection.