RRLLB81 Assignment 2 (QUALITY ANSWERS) Semester 2 2025 - THE Doctrine of Functus Officio and Defective Administrative Actions in Administrative Law

This document contains workings, explanations and solutions to the RRLLB81 Assignment 2 (QUALITY ANSWERS) Semester 2 2025. For assistance whats-app us on 0.6.8..8.1.2..0.9.3.4... THE Doctrine of Functus Officio and Defective Administrative Actions in Administrative Law Functus Officio is the principle in terms of which decisions of officials are deemed to be final and binding once they are made. The decision cannot, once made, be revoked by the decision maker in the absence of statutory authority. The official could, however, approach a court of law to set aside his/her own decision. This maintains the principle of legality and ensures that functionaries do not exercise more power than they have. This creates certainty because the bearer or receiver of a right and the granter of a right know where they stand legally. The doctrine (Functus Officio) applies only to decisions that are final and where rights or benefits have been granted. This however creates a conundrum where a decision is invalid or unfair ab initio. Particularly administrative actions which unfairly or invalidly granted rights or benefits. This creates problems for the granter of rights or benefits once it is discovered that the administrative action is defective. The administrative action could be unfair, invalid, or void. All these circumstances yield different legal outcomes and affect the granter of rights and the receiver of rights differently. Conduct research and investigate why defective administrative action affects certainty, and how the doctrine of Functus Officio affects administrative law. You may choose to focus on invalid, unfair or void administrative actions, or all of these defective administrative actions. Cases AllPay Consolidated Investment Holdings (Pty) Ltd v Chief Executive Officer, South African Social Security Agency (No 2) 2014 (4) SA 179 (CC) Oudekraal Estates (Pty) Ltd v City of Cape Town 2004 (6) SA 222 (SCA) Books Burns Y and Henrico R, Administrative Law (5th edn, Juta 2020) Quinot G (ed), Administrative Justice in South Africa: An Introduction (2nd edn, Oxford 2021) Legislation Promotion of Administrative Justice Act 3 of 2000 Journal Articles 62 Henrico R, ‘The Functus Officio Doctrine and Invalid Administrative Action in South African Administrative Law: A Flexible Approach’ 2020 (34) Spec Juris 115 Pretorius DM, ‘The Origins of the Functus Officio Doctrine with Specific Reference to its Application in Administrative Law’ (2005) 122 SALJ 832