Getting What You Want From Administrative Law

Abstract

The primary function of administrative law is to control public power. However, applicants who are aggrieved by the misuse of public power and instances of maladministration are not generally driven by motives of control; their reasons for accessing the administrative law system include the pursuit of transparency, redress and (less commonly) reform. This article considers the ways in which the machinery of administrative law contributes to these wider objectives, noting that limitations in one mechanism are often made up for by another. We can better appreciate the capacity of the administrative law system to fulfil an applicant’s strategic objectives if we take a broad view of the operation of individual mechanisms and the ways that they relate to and complement one another.

Keywords: administrative law, judicial review, ombudsman, tribunals

JEL Classification: K23, K10, K40