Administrative Law and Administrative Procedure
Core concepts
Administrative law governs the organisation and activity of the public administration, the principles of legality, proportionality, impartiality, and the pursuit of the public interest. Candidates must know the forms of administrative action (regulations, administrative acts, contracts, and material acts), the requirements of a valid administrative act (competence, form, procedure, motive, and content), and the grounds for invalidity. The Administrative Procedure Code and the administrative courts provide the framework for challenging acts through administrative appeal, hierarchical recourse, and judicial review.
Traps
A frequent trap is confusing annulment of an act (based on illegality) with revocation (based on merit or convenience), and the time limits for each. Questions also test the difference between a regulamento (general and abstract) and an acto administrativo (individual and concrete). Watch for the rule that the administration cannot revoke an act that has created rights for third parties without their consent, unless the act is illegal.
Rule of thumb
For any administrative act, run the test of competence, procedure, form, motive, and content. A defect in any of these grounds makes the act annullable, and grave defects make it null.
Worked example
A director signs a licence without the mandatory prior opinion of the competent body. The defect lies in the procedure; the act is annullable even if the outcome would have been the same, because the procedural requirement protects third-party interests.