Administrative Law

Concept of Administrative Law:

Administrative law is the body of rules and procedures that organizes government and provides mechanisms for redress of grievances as a result of decisions or actions of government.

 Ivor Jennings in his "The law and the constitution, 1959" provided the following definition of the term "administrative law”. According to him, "administrative law is the law relating to the administrative authorities”. This is the most widely accepted definition, but there are two difficulties in this definition.(1) It is very wide definition, for the law which determines the power and functions of administrative authorities may also deal with the substantive aspects of such powers.

For example :- Legislation relation to public health services, houses, town and country planning etc.. But these are not included within the scope and ambit of administrative law, and

(2) It does not distinguish administrative law from constitution law.

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 aggrieved persons, when those powers are abused by administrative authorities.

Thus Administrative law can be said to be science of power of Administrative authorities, and the nature of their powers can be studied under the three heads

1.      Legislative or Rule making,

2.      Purely executive

3.      Judicial or adjudicative

   Scope of Administrative Law: The scope of Administrative law can be narrated as under :-

1.    The methods and procedures of these Administrative organs are also studied by this new branch of law.

2. It covers the nature of structure, powers and functions of all these administrative organs.

3. 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.

4. Why and How the Administrative Organs are to be controlled is also viewed by the Administrative law.

Approach of Administrative law: Administrative law deals with four aspects:-

1.      It deals with composition and the powers of administrative authorities.

2.      It fixed the limits of the powers of such authorities.

3.      It prescribes the procedures to be followed by these authorities in exercising such powers and,

4.      It controls these administrative authorities through judicial and other means.