In general, the (sub)principles of properness have (in most countries) the longest history of the six principles of good governance. These principles were developed because the traditional formal approaches to legality were too narrow for adequate control of the government. These principles were often developed by the judiciary as unwritten principles, as well as by the ombudsman or as policy principles in policy papers. Several of these principles have been codified in the laws of different countries. In many countries, the process of codification of unwritten norms is at a different stage, but the foundations of these principles are often comparable. Different courts developed a rather sophisticated way of protecting the rights of individuals: sometimes by developing unwritten principles or by having a more extensive interpretation of the law. The lines of development of the principles of properness were illegality, irrationality, and then impropriety. The following step was the specification of (sub)principles, such as equality, legal certainty, carefulness, and motivation. Each of these categories was specified by means of a principles-based approach and a rights-based review. This development sometimes went faster under the influence of international human rights treaties. However, the innovation of judicial review went through by formal and material principles. In the principles of properness, we distinguish the following elements: formal carefulness (hearing as part of natural justice), abuse of power (abuse of discretion), rationality (substantial carefulness), proportionality, legal certainty, legitimate expectations, and equality and reasoning.
