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DEPARTMENT OF LAW AND CONTINUING LEGAL EDUCATION

DIPLOMA IN LAW COURSE

KAMPALA, MBARARA AND LIRA CAMPUS

COURSE TITLE: ADMINISTRATIVE LAW

LECTURER (S):

Paul MUKIIBI (Head, Department of Law Reporting, Research and

Law Reform & Professional Advisor, LDC)

Faisal MULALIRA (Assistant Director, Lira Campus & Professional

Advisor, LDC)

Gloria INZIKURU (Professional Advisor/Lecturer, LDC)

Assumpta NAMANDI (Professional Advisor/Lecturer, LDC)

COURSE LEADER: Mr. Precious B. NGABIRANO (Head, Department of
Law & Continuing Legal Education & Professional Advisor, LDC)

TOPIC 01: Introduction to Administrative Law

DATE: Saturday January 22nd 2022

TIME: 08:30AM-06:00PM (WEEKEND)

VENUE: ONLINE
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TOPIC 01: INTRODUCTION AND DEFINITION OF ADMINISTRATIVE LAW

CONTENTS
1.0 Course Aims
2.0 Course Objectives
3.0 Introduction
4.0 Topic Objectives
5.0 Main Content
5.1 Definition and Nature of Administrative Law
5.2 Purpose of Administrative Law
6.0 Conclusion
7.0 Summary
8.0 Revision Questions
9.0 References/Further Reading

1.0. COURSE AIMS

The aims are to help you understand basic principles and concepts in administrative law. The broad
aims are to:
• introduce you to administrative law, administrative process, its definition, nature, scope, as
well as the sources or powers of the administrative process as it relates to constitutional law
and its principles;
• equip you with basic topics in administrative law such as local government system, functions
and delegated legislation, its control, its occupies in any administrative system, and how its
use or mis-use can affect the workings of a governmental administrative system;
• examine the administrative Panels and Tribunals of enquiries in countries, the extent of their
independence and the rights of appeal from the tribunals as well as judicial review applicable
in the systems; and
• expose you to the work of Public Complaints Commission/Ombudsman, actions and
proceedings against government, the doctrine of locus standi and administrative and
prerogative remedies available to citizens.

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2.0. COURSE OBJECTIVES

To achieve the aims set out above, this topic has broad objectives. In addition, each topic also has
specific objectives. The topic objectives are at the beginning of each topic. I advise that you read
them before you start working through the topic. You may refer to them in the course of the topic
to personally monitor your progress.

At the end of this topic, you should be able to:

• Define administrative law
• Understand clearly the basic purpose of administrative law and analyse the way such purpose
is attained.
• Describe the similarities and differences between administrative law and other concepts.
• Explain the place of administrative law in ensuring rule of law and enforcement of human
right.

3.0. INTRODUCTION
All aspects of human endeavour must be administered well for a successful outcome. Likewise, the
affairs of the society generally and sectionally must be administered well to record an economic and
political achievement. The section that is responsible for this is the executive arm of government of
the country. To curb the arbitrary use of power of this highly essential part of the system, there is
the need for a law to define its role, the limitation of its powers, the action, remedies against the
arbitrary use of its powers, and so on. This law is called administrative law. Thus, in this topic, we
shall try to define what administrative law and process mean.

4.0. TOPIC OBJECTIVES

At the end of this topic, you should be able to:
• define administrative law
• define administrative process
• explain the administrative function of Government and its Institutions
• explain the scope of administrative law.
• Appreciate of purpose of administrative law

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5.0. MAIN CONTENT

5.1. Definition and Nature of Administrative Law
There is no universally accepted method of defining administrative law. Different authors have
propounded different definitions to the term “administrative law.” According to Osborn’s law
Dictionary (quoting Dicey) “administrative law is the law relating to the organisation, powers
and duties of administrative authorities.”

Austin has defined administrative Law, as the law, which determines the ends and modes to which
the sovereign power shall be exercised. In his view, the sovereign power shall be exercised either
directly by the monarch or directly by the subordinate political superiors to whom portions of those
are delegated or committed in trust.

In his famous book―Introduction to American Administrative Law 1958, Bernard Schwartz

has defined Administrative Law as “the law applicable to those administrative agencies which
possess of delegated legislation and adjudicatory authority.

H. W. R. Wade in his book “Administrative Law,” eighth edition, argued that administrative law is
concerned with the operation and control of the power of administrative authorities with emphasis
on functions rather than structure. He went further, stating that: “ Administrative law is the law
relating to the control of governmental powers.”

Sir Ivor Jennings (1959) defines Administrative Law as: “the law relating to administration. It determines
the Organization, powers and duties of administrative Authorities.”

Criticisms of this definition

Even though this is perhaps, the most widely accepted definition of administrative law, it is not
without its attendant criticism. According to Massey, there are some difficulties associated with this
definition.

Firstly, it does not distinguish administrative law from constitutional law. It lays entire emphasis on
the organization, power, and duties to the exclusion of the manner of their exercise. In other words,

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this definition does not give due regard to the administrative process, i.e., the manner of agency
decision making, including the rules, procedures and principles it should apply.

According to Oluyede, P.A. (1988), “Administrative law means that branch of our law which vests
powers in administrative agencies, imposes certain requirements on the agencies in the exercise of
the powers and provides remedies against wrongful administrative acts.”

According to Wade and Bradley (1985), “Administrative law is a branch of the public law which is
concerned with the composition, powers, duties, rights and liabilities of the various organs of
government which are engaged in administration. Or more concisely, the law relating to public
administration”.

Egwummuo (2000) defines Administrative Law as “that branch of public law which aims at
indicating the rights of the citizen against attacks (intentionally or inadvertently) emanating from
government or its agencies”. (Page 1)

Administrative law, according to B. O. Iluyomade and B. U. Eka in their book “Cases and
Materials on Administrative Law’’ is “that body of rules, which aim at reducing the areas of conflict
between the administrative agencies of the State and the individual.”

To P.A. Oluyede, administrative law means that branch of the law, which vests powers in
administrative agencies, imposes certain requirements on the agencies in the exercise of the powers
and provides remedies against unlawful use of those powers.”

According to Peter Leyland and Gordon Anthony:

It is regarded as the area of governmental powers, which originate in primary legislation or in the
prerogative. It embodies general principles which can be applied to the exercise of the powers and
duties of authorities in order to ensure that the myriad of rules and discretionary powers available to
the executive conform to basic standards of legality and, fairness.

MASSEY gives a wider and working definition of administrative law in the following way:
Administrative law is that branch of public law which deals with the organization and powers of
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administrative and quasi administrative agencies and prescribes the principles and the rules by which
an official action is reached and reviewed in relation to individual liberty and freedom.

From this and the previous definitions we may discern that the following are the concerns of
administrative law;

a) It studies powers of administrative agencies.

b) The nature and the extent of such power is relevant to determine whether any administrative
action is ultra vires or there is an abuse of power.
c) It studies the rules, procedures and principles of exercising these powers.
d) It studies the controlling mechanism of power. Administrative agencies while exercising their
powers may exceed the legal limit abuse their power or fail to comply with the
minimum procedural requirements.
e) Administrative law studies control mechanism like legislative & institutional control and
control by courts through judicial review.
f) Lastly it studies remedies available to aggrieved parties whose rights and interests may be
affected by unlawful and unjust administrative wrongs. Mainly it is concerned with remedies
through judicial review, such as certiorari, mandamus, injunction and habeas corpus.

It is crystal clear from the various definitions above, and as earlier pointed out, that there is no
comprehensive definition of administrative law, and that it only depends on the view point of the
person defining.

Dicey in 19th century defines it as;

Firstly, portion of a nation‘s legal system which determines the legal statues and liabilities of
all State officials.
Secondly, defines the rights and liabilities of private individuals in their dealings with public
officials.
Thirdly, specifies the procedure by which those rights and liabilities are enforced.
However, two important facts should be taken into account in an attempt to understanding and
defining of administrative law.
From the above views, we note the following;
Firstly, administrative law is primarily concerned with the manner of exercising
governmental power. The decision-making process is more important than the decision itself.
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Secondly, administrative law cannot fully be defined without due regard to the functional
approach. This is to mean that the function (purpose) of administrative law should be the underlying
element of any definition. Bearing in mind these two factors, let us now try to analyze some
definitions given by some scholars and administrative lawyers.
These definitions by different authors confirm the fact that there is no single definition of
the subject; all definitions depend on the semantic, background and personal idiosyncrasies of the writers.
Generally, notwithstanding the problem associated with finding a single definition of the subject, it
is a branch of law that aims at keeping the powers of government within the citizen against
their abuse, and where abused, to provide remedy to the aggrieved citizen.
Administrative Law therefore refers to the body of rules and regulations that relate to the
administration of a state or nation. Administrative Law deals with issues of powers and duties of
administrative functionaries, charged with the responsibilities of state governance. Administrative
Law embodies regulations which relate to the exercise of powers and spells out remedies for
aggrieved citizens who feel abused by the exercise of administrative powers by public authorities.

5.2 Purpose of Administrative Law

There has never been any serious doubt that administrative law is primarily concerned with the
control of power. With the increase in level of state involvement in many aspects of everyday life
during the first 80 years of the twentieth century, the need for a coherent and effective body of rules
to govern relations between individuals and state became essential. The 20th century saw the rise of
the regulatory state and a consequent growth in administrative agencies of various kinds engaged in
the delivery of a wide variety of public programs under statutory authority. This means, in effect, the
state nowadays controls and supervises the lives, conduct and business of individuals in so many
ways. Hence controlling the manner of exercise of public power so as to ensure rule of law and
respect the right and liberty of individuals may be taken as the key purpose of administrative law.
Administrative law embodies general principles applicable to the exercise of the powers available to
the executive conform to basic standards of legality and fairness. The ostensible purpose of these
principles is to ensure that there is accountability, transparency and effectiveness in exercising of
power in the public domain as well as the observance of rule of law.

Peer Leyland and Tery Woods have identified the following as the underlying purposes of
administrative law.
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a) It has a control function, acting in a negative sense as a brake or check in respect of the
unlawful exercise or abuse of governmental/administrative power.
b) It can have a command function by making public bodies perform their statutory duties,
including the exercise of discretion under a statute.
c) It embodies positive principles to facilitate the good administrative practice; for example, in
ensuring that the rules of natural justice or fairness are adhered to.
d) It operates to provide accountability and transparency, including participation by interested
individuals and parties in the process of government.
e) It may provide a remedy for grievances at the hand of public authorities.

Similarly, I. P. Massey identifies the four basic bricks of the foundation of administrative law as:
a) To check the abuse of administrative power.
b) To ensure to citizen an impartial determination of their disputes by officials so as to protect
them from unauthorized encroachment of their rights and interests.
c) To make those who exercise public power accountable to the people.

6.0. CONCLUSION
Although the relationship between constitutional law and administrative law is not very emboldened
to be seen with naked eyes but the fact remains that concomitant points are neither so blurred that
one has to look through the cervices of the texts with a magnifier to locate the relationship. The
aforementioned veracities provide cogent evidence to establish an essential relationship between the
fundamentals of both the concepts. If doubts still persist, the very fact that each author, without the
exception of a single, tends to differentiate between the two branches of law commands the
hypothecation of a huge overlap.

7.0. SUMMARY
In this topic, we have discussed and defined various definitions of administrative law administrative
law could be defined in so many different ways. However, its main purpose, to control of power,
should always be the basic element in any attempt made to define it. It is not an isolated subject.
However, it is influenced by different factors and it shares a common ground with other concepts.
Administrative law has now become a pivotal legal instrument to maintain rule of law, to facilitate

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good governance, to ensure the protection of human rights and to uphold the principle of
democracy.

8.0. ASSIGNMENT OR REVISION QUESTIONS

1) With reference to different scholars define administrative law?
2) Discuss the purpose of Administrative Law in Uganda with reference to Scholarly views.

9.0. REFERENCES/FURTHER READING

➢ Bone, S. (2001). Osborn’s Concise Law Dictionary (9th ed.). London: Sweet and Maxwell.
➢ Leyland P. & Gordon, A. (2005). Administrative Law. (5th ed.). Oxford University
➢ Pressalemi, E. (2008). Administrative Law. (3rd ed.). Ikeja: Princeton Publishing Co.
➢ Wade, H. W. R. & Forsyth, C.F. (2000). Administrative Law (8th ed.) Oxford University
Press.

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