What is administrative law?
Formal definition Administrative law is a branch of public law concerned with the
composition, procedures, powers, duties, rights, and liabilities of the
various organs of the government that are engaged in administering
public bodies under the law
Administrative law it imposes limits on executive power and these limits protect
constraints citizens from arbitrary decisions. This is a minimum requirement of
the rule of law
Administrative law it promotes ‘responsible’ or ‘good government’ – that is,
facilitates government that advocates the public interest fairly, in good faith
and, increasingly, in an open and transparent manner
Everything will be simultaneously doing these two ends of constraining and facilitates so
it can protect citizens but also carry out its powers and functions
WHAT IS JUDICIAL REVIEW???
“Judicial review is a type of court proceeding in which a judge reviews the lawfulness of a
decision or action made by a public body.” (Courts and Tribunals Judiciary website)
Judicial review is core to administrative law
It’s a set of legal doctrines which regulate the ways in which the state or people
representing the state can or cannot exercise their power
The institution of judicial review is supposed to focus on which decisions are lawful
within the powers of the person or body who made, and then which decisions are
unlawful outside of the powers of the person or body who made them
Sometimes…lawfulness is about the substance of the decisions rather than the decision-
making process so be careful with this
REAL LIFE EXAMPLE OF JUDICIAL REVIEW
UK gov has a plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda
That plan was set to go into action the next week, but it was also
in challenge in the high courts
This was an application for judicial review which claims that the
home secretary’s policy is unlawful
The idea is that the creation of this kind of scheme is outside the
legal powers of the home secretary – not that this is a bad idea
Update – judicial review failed – in December the high court’s found that the
government’s plan was lawful
They did not carry out any deportations, but it would be in the legal powers to do
this
Formal definition Administrative law is a branch of public law concerned with the
composition, procedures, powers, duties, rights, and liabilities of the
various organs of the government that are engaged in administering
public bodies under the law
Administrative law it imposes limits on executive power and these limits protect
constraints citizens from arbitrary decisions. This is a minimum requirement of
the rule of law
Administrative law it promotes ‘responsible’ or ‘good government’ – that is,
facilitates government that advocates the public interest fairly, in good faith
and, increasingly, in an open and transparent manner
Everything will be simultaneously doing these two ends of constraining and facilitates so
it can protect citizens but also carry out its powers and functions
WHAT IS JUDICIAL REVIEW???
“Judicial review is a type of court proceeding in which a judge reviews the lawfulness of a
decision or action made by a public body.” (Courts and Tribunals Judiciary website)
Judicial review is core to administrative law
It’s a set of legal doctrines which regulate the ways in which the state or people
representing the state can or cannot exercise their power
The institution of judicial review is supposed to focus on which decisions are lawful
within the powers of the person or body who made, and then which decisions are
unlawful outside of the powers of the person or body who made them
Sometimes…lawfulness is about the substance of the decisions rather than the decision-
making process so be careful with this
REAL LIFE EXAMPLE OF JUDICIAL REVIEW
UK gov has a plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda
That plan was set to go into action the next week, but it was also
in challenge in the high courts
This was an application for judicial review which claims that the
home secretary’s policy is unlawful
The idea is that the creation of this kind of scheme is outside the
legal powers of the home secretary – not that this is a bad idea
Update – judicial review failed – in December the high court’s found that the
government’s plan was lawful
They did not carry out any deportations, but it would be in the legal powers to do
this
