INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER 1
Contents
• Definition
• Administrative law

• Why?
• Type of bodies
• Government Administrative Bodies
• The Malaysian Government
administrative system
• Conclusion
Definition
• Administrative law:

•A public law which deals with the relationship between the

government and the people residing in that jurisdiction.

• Sim Kooi Soon v Malaysian Airline System [2005] 2 CLJ 797:

• “extraordinary original jurisdiction” of a supervisory character,
with the object of enabling the superior courts to keep the inferior
tribunals within the bound of their authority.

•A branch of public law that deals with the actual operation of

government (administrative process).
Why is it important?
• Expressed in its simplest form, administrative law has a dual purpose:
• to improve the quality, efficiency and effectiveness of government
decision making generally; and
• to enable people to test the lawfulness of decisions that affect them.

• To put it another way, a person whose interests are affected by a

government (or administrative) decision can challenge that decision in a
court.

• The lessons learned through this process can, in turn, be used to improve
future decision making.
How many bodies do we have to kill,
madam?

• Public bodies
• Private bodies
• Hybrid bodies
Public bodies v private bodies?
Definition
• In DPP v Manners [1978]

Source of authority
• R v Disciplinary Committee of the Jockey Club, ex g Aga Khan (1993) .

How about hybrid bodies?

• Case?
Government Administrative Bodies
• Ministries
• the highest bodies in the federal administrative machinery

• Government Departments
• the second highest agencies for implementing government policies.

• Statutory Bodies
• the setting up of such bodies are governed by laws, they would normally
be set up with the objective of carrying out specific duties which would
be in line with the government's objectives.
The Malaysian Government administrative
system
• Made up of three main levels:
• Federal
• State
• District levels (Local Government)

• The Federal Constitution has given extensive provisions to the Federal

Government where national administration is concerned. The
administrative duties at the Federal level include all aspect of public
services such as economy, social, security and education.
• Each state government has to play an important role in the proper
administration of its state.
The Malaysian Government administrative
system
• To ensure the smooth implementation of the country's administration the
Malaysian Government has set up various agencies to carry out certain
functions to enable the government to attain its objectives.

• The various government agencies are put in place for specified reasons,
namely to plan, control, assist and implement all the activities planned to
attain all the national objectives.

• It is not uncommon for the government to appoint officers to hold public

services posts at various levels.
Okay madam, we get it. So what are you
trying to say?
• As power has been given to these public bodies, sometimes it will lead to
procedural problems as well.

• Therefore, the crust of administrative law is to review the decisions made

by administrative bodies of the government.

• Administrative law provides legal avenues for these decisions to be

reviewed.
Okay madam, we get it. So what are you
trying to say?
• Thus, administrative law is based on the principle that all government
actions or decisions:

• must be legal, the decisions must be done in accordance to the rules of

natural justice

• those who have been affected by unlawful acts of government officials

must be given avenues to have these decisions reviewed

• if they are found to be wrongful, the affected individuals should given

remedies.
Okay madam, we get it. So what are you
trying to say?
• The questions that need to addressed are as follows:-

• Whether the decisions made by such bodies can be reviewed?

• If so why ?
• If so how?
• What would be remedies available?
• What would be the effects of such remedies?
• Are there provisions which could prevent such a review?