Pure or Mixed? The Evolution of Three Grounds of Judicial Review of the Administration in British and Israeli Administrative Law

Abstract

The article challenges the distinction between "pure" and "mixed" legal systems, a distinction that remains an element of comparative law orthodoxy. I trace the evolution of three grounds of review of the administration - unreasonableness, proportionality and legitimate expectations/administrative promise - in two legal systems: Israel and the United Kingdom. The birth and further life of these doctrines show that administrative law is a complex amalgam of both common law and European law, even in the so-called "pure" British system, obviously influenced by the system's subjection to EU law and to the ECtHR.

Keywords: Unreasonableness, proportionality, legitimate expectations, administrative law, administrative promise, mixed legal systems, comparative law, comparative public law, judicial review