Definitions of

Administrative Law
Shivam Mishra & Kishan Kumar
B.A.LL.B, 4th Semester
 INTRODUCTION
• The basic and traditional functions of state are
those of maintenance of law and order and of
collecting taxes from the public.
• There has been a tremendous increase in the
functions of the State.
• This increase in the powers and functions of the
state has made the relationship of the
administrative authorities and the people very
complex.
 introduction
• In order to regulate these complex relations, some
law is necessary, which may bring about regulatory
certainty and may check at the same time the
misuse of powers vested in the administration .
• It is the bye-product of the growing socio-
economic functions of the State and the increased
power of the government.
• The development of Administrative law is an
inevitably necessity of modern times.
 Definitions of Administrative Law
 A V DICEY
 IVOR JENNINGS
 JAIN AND JAIN
 WADE
 K C DAVIS
 JAIN AND JAIN
 AUSTIN
 GRIFFITH AND STREET
 C K TAKWANI
 HALSBURY
 PROF. SCHWARTZ
 IN OPINION OF AUTHORS
 A.V. Dicey
• Administrative law is related to that portion
of nation’s legal system which determines the
legal status and liabilities of all State
officials.
• Defines the rights and liabilities of private
individuals in their dealing with public
officials.
• Specifies the procedures by which those
rights and liabilities are enforced.
 CRITISM OF A.V. DICEY
This definition has been criticized as being too
narrow. It excludes the followings –
 Administrative authorities which are not State
officials in strict sense e.g. public corporations.
 The procedures to be followed by the
administrative authorities.
 The powers and functions of the administrative
authorities.
 ivor Jennings

Administrative law is the law related

to the administration, which
determines the organisation, power
and duties of administrative
authorities.
 Critisim of ivor Jennings
• He fail to differentiate between
administrative law and constitutional law
• Definition doesn’t give due regard to the
administrative process i.e. The manner of
agency decision making, including the rules
procedure and principles.
 Wade
• Administrative law is “the law relating to the
control of government power.”
• The primary objective of administrative law is
to keep powers of government within their
legal bounds so as to protect the citizens
against their abuse.
• The powerful engines of authority must be
prevented from running amok.
 CRITISM OF WADE
• This definition places considerable emphasis
on the object of administrative law by
touching the “heart of the subject”. But it
doesn’t define the subject.
• It also doesn’t deals with the powers and
duties of administrative authorities not with
the procedure required to be followed by
them.
 K.C .Davis
• Administrative law is the law concerning
the power and procedures of
administrative agencies.
• Especially including the law governing
judicial review of administrative action.
 CRITISM of K. C. DAVIS
• It doesn’t include the substantive law made by these
agencies.
• Davis defined the administrative agency as a government
authority, other than a court and a legislative which
affects the rights of private parties either through
administrative adjudication or rule-making.
• It doesn’t include many non-adjudicative yet administrative
functions that are non-legislative or merely quasi-judicial
in nature.
• It puts an emphasis on the control of the administrative
functions by the judiciary.
 JAIN AND JAIN
Administrative law deals with the structure, power and
 functions of the organs of administration,
 the limit of their powers,
 the methods and procedures followed by them in
exercising their powers and functions,
 the method by which their powers are controlled
including the legal remedies available to a person
against them when the rights are infringed by
their operation.
 austin
• Administrative law as 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 monarch or
indirectly by the subordinate political
superiors.
 Griffith and Street
• The main objective of administrative law in the
operation and control of administrative authorities.
• It deals with three aspects.
– What sort of power does the administration
exercise?
– What are the limit of those powers?
– What are the ways in which the administration is
contained within those limits?
 CK Takwani
• Taking into account the ambit and scope explored
through all these definitions,Takwani defined:
• Administrative law is that branch of constitutional law
which deals with powers and duties of administrative
authorities,
– the procedure followed by them in exercising the
powers and discharging the duties.
– the remedies available to an aggrieved person when
his rights are affected by an action of such
authorities.
 HALSBURY
• The law relating to the discharge of functions of
public nature in government and administration.
• It includes functions of public authorities and
officers and of special tribunals, judicial review
of the exercise of those functions, the civil
liability and legal protection of those purporting
to exercise them and aspects of the means
whereby extrajudicial redress may be obtainable
at the instance of persons aggrieved.
 PROF. SCHWARTZ
• Administrative law is that branch of law which
controls the administrative operations of the
government.
• It sets forth the powers which may be
exercised by administrative agencies, lays
down the principles governing the exercise of
those powers, and provides legal remedies to
those aggrieved by administrative action.
 According to prof. Schwartz
• Definition divides administrative law into three
parts
- the power vested in administrative
agencies.
- the requirements imposed by law upon
the exercise of those powers.
- remedies against unlawful administrative
action.
 In opinion of authors
The branch of law governing the exercise of
powers and duties of public authorities. It is
particularly concerned with the control of public
power by judicial review and by non-judicial
mechanisms such as individual and collective
responsibility. There is no universally
demarcation of the area of administrative law,
but conventionally includes tribunals and
inquiries as well as central and local government.
 REFRENCES
• Lectures on Administrative law by C.K TAKWANI
• Principles of Administrative Law by MP JAIN & SN JAIN
• Administrative Law by DURGA DAS BASU
• Halsbury’s Laws of England
• Administrative law by BERNARD SCHWARTZ
• Administrative Law Text by K C DAVIS
• The Development of Administrative Law by A V DICEY
• Law of the Constitution by A V DICEY
THANK YOU