Administrative Law: Legality, Fairness, and Control of Power
Holding public power to account
Administrative law governs how public bodies exercise authority and how courts review it. Candidates must understand the grounds of review, the remedies available, and the difference between appeal and judicial review.
Concepts you must command
Know the grounds of review: illegality, irrationality or unreasonableness, procedural impropriety, and proportionality where applicable. Understand natural justice: the right to a hearing and the rule against bias. Understand delegated legislation, the requirement of lawful authority for administrative action, the duty to give reasons where required, and the remedies of certiorari, prohibition, mandamus, and declaration. Understand legitimate expectation and the limits of discretion.
Traps that appear in questions
- Treating judicial review as a merits appeal.
- Finding bias only where actual bias is proven, ignoring apparent bias.
- Assuming a hearing is required in every administrative decision.
- Overlooking that a statutory ouster clause rarely excludes review for illegality.
- Confusing a policy decision with an individual decision.
Rule of thumb
Use the four-question test: Did the body have power? Did it follow the procedure? Was the decision rational? Was it proportionate? A failure at any stage grounds review.
Worked example
A licensing authority revokes a licence without notice to the holder. The analysis: the statute empowers revocation, so the power exists, but procedural impropriety is established because no hearing was given. The court quashes the decision by certiorari and remits it for a fair hearing; it does not substitute its own view of the merits.