Understanding The Nature and Scope of Administrative 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 aggreived persons, when those powers are abused by administrative authorities.

The Administrative process has come to stay and it has to be accepted as a necessary evil in all progressive societies. Particularly in welfare state, where many schemes for the progress of the society are prepared and administered by the government. The execution and implementation of these programmes may adversely affect the rights of the citizens. The actual problem is to reconcile social welfare with rights of the individual subjects. The main object of the study of Administrative law is to unravel the way in which these Administrative authorities could be kept within their limits so that the discretionary powers may not be turned into arbitrary powers.

Scope of Administrative Law

There are several branches of the science of law. The Administrative Law is a recent branch of the science of law. In the political science there are few Administrative organs. Certain functions have been allotted to these organs in the Administrative Machinery. The Administrative law deals with the structure, functions and powers of the Administrative organs. It also lays down the methods and procedures which are to be followed by them during the course of remedies which are available to the persons whose rights and other privileges are damaged by their operations.

From the few lines above explaining the meaning of the Administrative law, we can notice the exact scope of this new branch of 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.

In this way alongwith the development in the Political Science and alongwith the idea of federal Administration, the separate branch of Administrative law has been developed. It is to be clearly noted that this branch of Law is exclusively restricted to the Administrative organs only. The delegated legislations are supposed to be the backbone of the Administrative law.

An Opinion of Prof. Wade

According to Prof. Wade, The organisation, the methods, the powers (Whether styled Administrative, legislative or judicial) and the control by the judicial authority of all public authorities is the ambit of Administrative law in United Kingdom. This is equally true with regard to scope of Administrative law in India. With the growth of the powers of Administrative authorities the question as how to control these powers became very relevant. If the finally and exclusive character of Administrative action is not subjected to judicial control and legislative responsibility it would not have in the society and that Hewart described "New disposition would prevail over".

An Opinion of Freund

Freund, has brightly summed up in the following words the main concern of the subject :-

The main problem of Administrative law related to the nature and operation of official powers (permits and orders, ministerial or discritionary scope and legitimacy of underlying conditions), the formal procedural conditions for the exercise of powers, official and communal liability, the specific remedies for the Judicial Control of administrative action (legal, equitable and statutory) jurisdictional limitations of powers and, questions of Administrative finality.

Conclusion

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

Now the main consideration of Administrative law is the control over the exercise of these powers.