Understanding Administrative Law in the Common Law World

For the past few years I have been working on a book on judicial review of administrative action, building on my Public Law Conference papers on administrative law values (here and here). It is designed to be a comprehensive study of the core features of administrative law in common law systems (Australia, Canada, England, Ireland and New Zealand), covering familiar issues such as procedural fairness, substantive review and remedies. Here is the detailed table of contents:

Preface. 5

Chapter 1: A Values-Based Approach. 8

1.1 Background. 8

1.1.1 Historical Development and Procedural Reform.. 8

1.1.2 Contemporary Debates. 13

1.1.3 Administrative Law Today. 15

1.2 Four Values. 16

1.2.1 Individual self-realisation: Protecting important individual interests. 17

1.2.2 Good administration: Avoid compromising effective and efficient public administration. 18

1.2.3 Electoral legitimacy: Respecting the roles of elected representatives. 19

1.2.4 Decisional autonomy: Maintaining distinct roles for courts and administrative decision-makers. 20

1.2.5 Structure: Complementarity and Balance. 21

1.3 Interpreting Administrative Law.. 24

1.4 Comparative Administrative Law.. 27

1.5 The Interpretation Advanced in this Book. 28

1.6 Overview.. 31

Chapter 2: Institutional Review.. 33

2.1 The Structure of the No-Bias Principle. 34

2.1.1 De Minimis Exception. 36

2.1.2 Elected Officials. 36

2.1.3 Principle of Necessity. 37

2.2 Determinations as to whether Conduct Leads to Bias. 38

2.2.1 Prior Knowledge. 39

2.2.2 Statutory Authorisation. 42

2.3 Retention of Discretion. 43

2.3.1 The No-Delegation Principle. 43

2.3.2 The Carltona Exception. 48

2.3.3 Fettering of Discretion. 52

2.4 Conclusion. 58

Chapter 3: Procedural Review.. 59

3.1 The General Structure of the Duty of Fairness. 61

3.2 Exceptions to the Duty of Fairness. 68

3.2.1 Legislative Decisions. 68

3.2.2 Emergencies. 69

3.2.3 Legislative Ouster 71

3.3 Procedural Fairness Rights. 72

3.3.1 Scope of Procedural Fairness. 72

3.3.2 Notice and Comment 75

3.3.3 Oral hearing. 78

3.3.4 Cross-examination. 80

3.3.5 Rules of Evidence. 82

3.3.6 Legal Representation. 84

3.3.7 Reasons. 85

3.4 Conclusion. 89

Chapter 4: Substantive Review.. 90

4.1 Jurisdictional Issues. 91

4.1.1 Electoral legitimacy and Decisional Autonomy. 93

4.1.2 Good Administration. 95

4.1.3 Individual Self-Realisation. 97

4.1.4 Deference on Questions of Law.. 100

4.3 Abuse of Discretion. 105

4.3.1 Contemporary Characteristics. 105

4.3.2 Variation in the Range of Reasonable Outcomes. 108

4.4 Relevancy and Propriety. 116

4.5 Conclusion. 119

Chapter 5: Remedies. 120

5.1 Certiorari 121

5.2 Prohibition. 122

5.3 Mandamus. 124

5.4 Declaratory Relief 130

5.5 Injunctive Relief 133

5.6 Refusal of Relief 135

5.7 Severance. 141

5.8 Conclusion. 142

Chapter 6: Restrictions on Remedies. 144

6.1 Procedural Requirements. 145

6.2 Exhaustion of Alternative Remedies. 147

6.3 Collateral Attack. 151

6.4 Exclusion of Review.. 152

6.5 Ripeness and Prematurity. 157

6.6 Standing. 160

6.7 Conclusion. 164

Chapter 7: Scope of Judicial Review of Administrative Action. 166

7.1 Scoping the Scope of Judicial Review.. 167

7.2 Electoral legitimacy. 170

7.2.1 Democratic Nexus. 170

7.2.2 Commercial Activities. 172

7.2.3 Statutory Obligations. 174

7.3 Good Administration. 175

7.3.1 Codes of Practice. 175

7.3.2 Deference. 176

7.4 Decisional Autonomy. 178

7.4.1 An Exclusionary Rule. 178

7.4.2 Contractual Powers and Public Purposes. 179

7.5 Individual Self-Realisation. 181

7.6 Conclusion. 183

Chapter 8: Legitimate Expectation. 186

8.1 The Plurality of Legitimate Expectations. 188

8.2 Administrative Law Values in the Decided Cases. 190

8.2.1 Abuse of Power 190

8.2.2 Good Administration. 190

8.2.3 Individual Self-Realisation. 191

8.2.4 Electoral legitimacy and Decisional Autonomy. 193

8.3 A Pluralist Approach to Legitimate Expectation and Administrative Law Values. 194

8.4 Protecting Legitimate Expectations: Pluralism in Action. 196

8.4.1 Knowledge and Reliance. 196

8.4.2 Substantive Legitimate Expectations. 199

8.4.3 Ultra Vires Representations. 202

8.5 Conclusion. 204

Chapter 9: Defending Administrative Law.. 206

9. 1 Fit 206

9.2 Transparency. 207

9.3 Coherence. 208

9.4 Morality. 209

Conclusion. 212

I have an advance contract with a publisher and, all going well, the book should hit the shelves in 2021. The manuscript is in an advanced stage of completion. If you would like to read one of the chapters in draft, please get in touch.

This content has been updated on October 9, 2020 at 01:15.