Introduction

 As per Ivor Jennings

 Administrative law is a law relating to administration, it’s a branch of public law
 It deals with the relationship of the individual with the Government.
 Which determines the organization, powers and duties of administrative
authorities
 It includes rule making powers of the administrative bodies
 And the quasi- judicial function of the administrative agencies.
 Legal liabilities of public authorities
 The power of ordinary courts to supervise and ensure that they treat the people
fairly.
The growth of Administrative Law In England

 In England
 In 1885 Albert Venn Dicey, a British Jurist rejected the whole concept of
Administrative Law.
 According to him, for smooth governance separation of powers is must.
 The numerous discretionary powers given to the executive and administrative
authorities and the judicial control exercise over them were all disregarded to
be able to form a separate branch of law as to many legal thinkers.
 Until 20th century Administrative law was not accepted as a separate branch
of law
The growth of Administrative Law In England
 Lord Donoughmore committee in 1929 recommended
 Publication of powers of subordinate authorities and the control over them
 The principle of “king can do no wrong” was to be abolished
 The scope of Administrative Law to be expanded by virtue of The Crown
Proceeding Act in 1947
 Which allowed to initiate civil proceedings against the crown as against private
person.
 In 1958, Tribunals and Inquiries Act was passed for better control and
supervision of Administrative decision.
 Breen V. Amalgamated Engineering Union(1971)2 QB 175 was the first case
wherein the existence of Administrative law in UK was declared.
The growth of Administrative Law In USA
 In USA, the existence of Administrative law and its growth was ignored
until it grew to become the fourth branch of the state.
 By then many legal scholars like Frank Goodnow and Ernst Freund had
already authored a few books on Administrative Law
 In 1933 special; committee was appointed to determine how judicial control
over administrative agencies could be exercised
 thereafter, in 1946 the Administrative Procedure Act was passed which
provided for judicial control over administrative actions
The growth of Administrative Law In India

 Administrative law in India can be traced back to ancient history

times. The Maurya and the Gupta dynasties of Ancient India had
centralised administrative system. Following this, came the
Mughals who had somewhat similar administrative system. The
kings in the ancient period of history were mostly concerned
about three things-
 Protecting the state from external aggression
 Maintaining law and order and order
 Collecting taxes.
The growth of Administrative Law In India
 With the arrival of the British in India, there was the advent of
modern administrative law. Establishment of East India Company
increased the government’s powers manifold. Several Acts,
legislatures and statutes were brought by the British Parliament
for regulating public safety, health, morality, transport and labour
relations.
 The exercise of granting licences began with the State Carriage
Act, 1861. The first public corporation came into existence under
the Bombay Port Trust Act, 1879. Delegated legislation was
accepted as legitimate power of the Executive in Northern India
Canal and Drainage Act, 1873 and Opium Act, 1878.
The growth of Administrative Law In India

 In many statutes, provisions were made vis-a-vis granting of

permits and licences and settlement of disputes by administrative
authorities and tribunals.
 During the Second World War, the executive powers increased
manifold by virtue of Defence of India Act. In addition to this,
the government issued many orders and ordinances, covering
several matters by way of Administrative instructions.
The growth of Administrative Law In India
 Post independence, India adopted a welfare state approach,
which in turn increased state activities. With increase in power
and activity of the Government and administrative authorities
increased so did the need for ‘Rule of Law’ and ‘Judicial
Review of State actions’.
 The philosophy of a welfare state became specifically embodied
in the Constitution of India. In the Constitution itself, provisions
were made to secure to all citizens social, economic and political
justice, equality of status and opportunity. The ownership and
control of material resources of the society should be so
distributed as best to sub-serve the common good.
The growth of Administrative Law In India
 For better administration and execution of laws at the ground
level, procedures such as laying and delegated legislation were
borrowed from contemporary regimes and customised to cater to
the Indian needs.
 Also, if rules, regulations and orders passed by the administrative
authorities were found to be beyond their legislative powers then
such orders, rules and regulations were to be declared ultra-vires,
unconstitutional, illegal and void.
 This flexibility of administrative law also marks an important
feature of evolution of administrative law in India.
The growth of Administrative Law In France