Backes & Eliantonio (2017) -
Administrative law
1: What Is Administrative Law
1.1: From Police State to Welfare State
The nature of the State, after the industrial revolution, has changed from
‘police state’ to ‘welfare state’.
Administrative bodies perform public duties and exercise certain powers →
administrative authorities and civil servants needed.
Administrative law is mainly about:
Administrative authorities and their civil servants
How administrative authorities get public powers
Procedural rules for the use of public powers
Substantive requirements administrative authorities have to take into
account when using powers
Objection procedures and judicial protection against administrative
action
1.2: Multilayer Governance
The organization and structure of authorities which fulfill administrative
tasks, differ per country. → Differences in the organization of the national
State and to different traditions and cultures.
Nowadays, many administrative tasks are performed by European and
national authorities. → regional authorities in close contact. Not purely a
national affair → multilayer governance.
1.3: Various Instruments and Powers to Protect the General Interest
Continental legal orders → fundamental difference between competences
under public law and competences under private law.
Public law: are those competences that are exercised exclusively by public
authorities. → so these are competences private law subjects (citizens,
enterprises) cant have. (right to raise taxes).
Backes & Eliantonio (2017) - Administrative law 1
, Private laws: rules regarding the private (citizens, enterprises).
1.4: The Administration Within the Trias Politica
To avoid too high a concentration of power, the competences of the
government must be divided between legislature, administration, and
judiciary. (Trias Politica, Montesquieu.
1.5: Questions
The issues that administrative law deals with can be divided into two main
categories:
1. Concerns the powers that administrative authorities need in order to
fulfill their tasks and the conditions attached to such powers. It concerns
the ‘instrumental function’ of administrative law.
2. Concerns the ‘safeguarding function’ of administrative law. →deals with
the protection of the rights and interests of citizens and of private
organizations against the use of administrative power.
2: Public Powers: Rule of Law and Legality Principle
The legislative power attributes power to the executive power (administration)
(Trias Politica). → So the administration is always bound by the law, so they
can’t use power for bad.
A special requirement of the rule of law is the legality principle. → requires that
the administration’s competence to act must have a basis in legislation.
Above all, this means that the administration is not allowed to use its
competences for a different purpose than that for which they have been
conferred. The French call this the prohibition of ‘détournement de pouvoir’.
3: Procedural Rules and Substantive Requirements for the Use of Public Power:
The General Principles of Administrative Law
3.1: Rationale of the General Principles: Preventing Abuse of Discretionary
Power
Range of tasks and competences of the administration grow → more power
to the administration.
Backes & Eliantonio (2017) - Administrative law 2
Administrative law
1: What Is Administrative Law
1.1: From Police State to Welfare State
The nature of the State, after the industrial revolution, has changed from
‘police state’ to ‘welfare state’.
Administrative bodies perform public duties and exercise certain powers →
administrative authorities and civil servants needed.
Administrative law is mainly about:
Administrative authorities and their civil servants
How administrative authorities get public powers
Procedural rules for the use of public powers
Substantive requirements administrative authorities have to take into
account when using powers
Objection procedures and judicial protection against administrative
action
1.2: Multilayer Governance
The organization and structure of authorities which fulfill administrative
tasks, differ per country. → Differences in the organization of the national
State and to different traditions and cultures.
Nowadays, many administrative tasks are performed by European and
national authorities. → regional authorities in close contact. Not purely a
national affair → multilayer governance.
1.3: Various Instruments and Powers to Protect the General Interest
Continental legal orders → fundamental difference between competences
under public law and competences under private law.
Public law: are those competences that are exercised exclusively by public
authorities. → so these are competences private law subjects (citizens,
enterprises) cant have. (right to raise taxes).
Backes & Eliantonio (2017) - Administrative law 1
, Private laws: rules regarding the private (citizens, enterprises).
1.4: The Administration Within the Trias Politica
To avoid too high a concentration of power, the competences of the
government must be divided between legislature, administration, and
judiciary. (Trias Politica, Montesquieu.
1.5: Questions
The issues that administrative law deals with can be divided into two main
categories:
1. Concerns the powers that administrative authorities need in order to
fulfill their tasks and the conditions attached to such powers. It concerns
the ‘instrumental function’ of administrative law.
2. Concerns the ‘safeguarding function’ of administrative law. →deals with
the protection of the rights and interests of citizens and of private
organizations against the use of administrative power.
2: Public Powers: Rule of Law and Legality Principle
The legislative power attributes power to the executive power (administration)
(Trias Politica). → So the administration is always bound by the law, so they
can’t use power for bad.
A special requirement of the rule of law is the legality principle. → requires that
the administration’s competence to act must have a basis in legislation.
Above all, this means that the administration is not allowed to use its
competences for a different purpose than that for which they have been
conferred. The French call this the prohibition of ‘détournement de pouvoir’.
3: Procedural Rules and Substantive Requirements for the Use of Public Power:
The General Principles of Administrative Law
3.1: Rationale of the General Principles: Preventing Abuse of Discretionary
Power
Range of tasks and competences of the administration grow → more power
to the administration.
Backes & Eliantonio (2017) - Administrative law 2
