Law Notes Administrative Law Notes
A 197 page summarised bible of administrative law notes including detailed case and materials summaries, super summaries and flow charts intended for exam use. Structure of the summarised bible is as follows:
Class 1 - Accountability in an administrative state
Class 2 - Legality, Rules, Discretion & Policy
Class 3 - Statutory Interpretation and the Ombudsman
Class 4 - Subordinate Legislation
Class 5 - "Reasons for Decision"'; Freedom of Information
Class 6-8: Merits Review
Class 9: Stand...
The following is a more accessible plain text extract of the PDF sample above, taken from our Administrative Law Notes. Due to the challenges of extracting text from PDFs, it will have odd formatting:
Legislation conferring power invariably nominates one to exercise it (minister, secretary etc.) and the validity of the decision can hinge on whether it was made by the person such nominated
Note: delegates non potest delegare - a delegate cannot delegate
But in reality governments can seldom practically make all decisions and hence legislation authorizes for the power to delegate – but even this is unlikely to cope with all situations and sometimes the authorized decision-maker mightn’t be available but there is a pressing need for a decision to be made
But there is the competing risk on public law ideals: the more dispersed a power the harder it is to ensure consistency and central managerial and political control
These competing considerations are resolved with four categories of authorized decision-making
Principal – The person nominated by legislation – retains the authority even if delegated, Acts Int Act s34AB(d)
Delegate – the person/officer to whom the power is delegated by written instrument signed by the principal, pursuant to an authority conferred by legislation. The scope of his power need not match that of the principal – but he acts independently and cannot act at the behest of another (just like the principal). The delegate is expected to sign in his name and not that of the principal
Agent – In limited circumstances acts on the principal/delegate’s behalf; generally must be a matter of ‘practical administrative necessity’ (Re Reference). The arrangement need not be established in formal writing since it is a matter of practical necessity. The agent’s authority ceases when the principal leaves office, unlike a delegate (Kelly v Watson)
Administrative Assistant – Designated decision-maker can obtain assistance from others (research, interviews, prepare briefing papers etc.), does not need to be authorized formally or under delegation; the difficulty is in what work can be done by the assistant and what must be done by the decision-maker
Re Reference under Section 11 of Ombudsman Act 1976 for an Advisory Opinion; Ex parte Director-General of Social Services (1979) 2 ALD 86 Facts: The Ombudsman Act s11 provided that the Cth Ombudsman could request agencies to refer questions to the AAT for advisory opinion – this particular one arose out of Green v Daniels concerning the validity of decisions made by a delegate of the D-G of SS to affirm an earlier decision refusing unemployment benefits to a school leaver. The delegate, Mr Prowse, signed the letter as LJ Daniels – the director general, with his own initials alongside. The tribunal held that this was an invalid exercise of his delegated power Brennan J (President):
The Question in this case – can a departmental officer that is delegated elect whether to act as a delegate of power or an officer exercising the power of the D-G?
|
---|
O’Reilly v Commissioner of State Bank of Victoria (1982) 153 CLR 1 Facts: The Income Tax Assessment Act s25 provided that the Commissioner of Tax can require a person to give evidence or produce documents. S 8(1) of the Tax Admin Act provided it could be delegated to a Deputy Commissioner. The Deputy Commissioner gave written authorization to a tax officer (Mr Holland) to issue notices under this Act and imprint his signature on it. Mr H issued to a taxpayer a notice framed as if it was done by the DC, bearing his signature. It was held... |
---|
Buy the full version of these notes or essay plans and more in our Administrative Law Notes.
A 197 page summarised bible of administrative law notes including detailed case and materials summaries, super summaries and flow charts intended for exam use. Structure of the summarised bible is as follows:
Class 1 - Accountability in an administrative state
Class 2 - Legality, Rules, Discretion & Policy
Class 3 - Statutory Interpretation and the Ombudsman
Class 4 - Subordinate Legislation
Class 5 - "Reasons for Decision"'; Freedom of Information
Class 6-8: Merits Review
Class 9: Stand...
Ask questions 🙋 Get answers 📔 It's simple 👁️👄👁️
Our AI is educated by the highest scoring students across all subjects and schools. Join hundreds of your peers today.
Get Started