scholarly journals Administrative Delicts: A Case Study in Unlawful Municipal Administration

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 153-165
Author(s):  
Joseph Eliot Magnet

Municipalities are prone to abuses of power by elected officials. The law books overflow with examples of municipal illegality. This threatens the rule of law. Courts require sufficient remedial authority to maintain the rule of law. An adequate remedy would simultaneously correct the illegal situation, deter repetition, compensate those injured, channel public outrage and, in certain cases, allow supervision of corrupt governmental processes or officials. To satisfy these requirements, a new head of liability is needed. Liability in damages should be imposed for intentional jurisdictional excess. The developing doctrine of administrative delict would provide for damages for deliberate and malicious abuse of power. Damages for an intentional or negligent failure of an individual or administrative body to operate within jurisdiction should be available either against the individual in his personal capacity or against the administrative body. Because many of the wrongs suffered as a result of the illegal use of power are intangible, exemplary damages should be readily available in an action for administrative delict. This remedy would also enable the courts to consider deterrence and breach of public trust in assessing the award. It is the responsibility of administrative law to maintain a sense of orderliness in public administration. The theory of administrative delict needs doctrinal nourishment in order to restrain the abuses of authorities imbued with statutory power.

Author(s):  
JESÚS LEGUINA VILLA

El Derecho Administrativo es un producto propio y específico del constitucionalismo nacido tras la ruptura revolucionaria con el Antiguo Régimen, que resultará profundamente condicionado por las circunstancias sociopolíticas del país, Francia, donde nació. El Régimen Administrativo del Estado de Derecho se conforma a partir del principio de legalidad, de la potestad reglamentaria, de las libertades públicas y los derechos públicos subjetivos, de la responsabilidad de la Administración y del control a través de la jurisdicción contencioso-administrativa. Administrazio Zuzenbidea konstituzionalismoaren berezko produktua espezifikoa da, Frantziako Iraultzak Erregimen Zaharrarekin apurtu ostean sortua eta herrialde horren egoera soziopolitikoak sakon baldintzatua. Zuzenbide Estatuaren Administrazio Araubideak osatzeko hauek guztiak hartzen dira abiapuntu: legezkotasun-printzipioa, arauzko ahala, askatasun publikoak eta eskubide publiko subjektiboak, Administrazioaren erantzukizuna eta administrazio-auziarekiko jurisdikzioaren bidez egiten den kontrola. Administrative Law is a product typical and specific of the constitutionalism born after the revolutionary break-off with the Ancien Regime, which was deeply conditioned by the sociopolitical circumstances of the State, France, where it was born. The Administrative Regime of the Rule of Law was made up from the point of view of the principle of legality, the statutory power, public freedoms and subjective public rights, the liability by the Administration and the review by means of the contentious administrative courts.


2019 ◽  
Vol 87 (4) ◽  
pp. 104-116
Author(s):  
V. O. Ivantsov

The author of the article assesses the content of administrative normative and legal acts (on the example of legal regulation of restrictions on receiving gifts) through the prism of modern understanding of the principles of administrative law, which made it possible to distinguish a number of problems for determining the content of some of them and to work out the ways to solve them, namely: 1) Having studied the norms of the laws of Ukraine “On Prevention of Corruption” and “On Charitable Activities and Charitable Organizations” through the prism of the principle of humanism and justice in the relations between the individual and the state, it is proved that the legal possibility in the sphere of legal relations in the sphere cannot be restricted (forbidden) humanism and charity; 2) an analysis of the law enforcement practice of implementing the prohibition on gift giving has often revealed a flagrant violation of the rule of law; emphasized that ensuring the legal certainty of the described ban can be ensured by revealing its content by the National Anti-Corruption Agency; 3) installed: – uncertainty about the specific characteristics of “allowed gifts”, which requires amendments to the Law of Ukraine “On Corruption Prevention” to exclude them or to provide clear explanations within the framework of the NACC Guidelines; – violation of the provisions of the Typical Anti-Corruption Program of a Legal Entity approved by the Decision of NAPC No. 75 dated from March 2, 2017 No. 75 on the principle of hierarchical highness of law, which requires amendments to them in accordance with the provisions of the Art. 23 of the Law of Ukraine "On Prevention of Corruption", which defines uniform rules for determining the amount of "allowed gift"; – the content of the concept of "gift" does not correspond to such an important element of the rule of law as "prohibition of discrimination and equality before the law", which requires amendments to the Law of Ukraine "On Prevention of Corruption" in the part of the correction of the concept of "gift" as such is bounded by the restriction of "family-private" relations not related to the performance of functions of the state or local self-government. As a result, it was found out that the principles of administrative law in order to improve the regulatory acts of the sphere of administrative and legal regulation are: 1) as a criterion for assessing the content of provisions of regulatory legal acts, resulting in the isolation of their shortcomings; 2) legal bases for elaboration of amendments and additions to administrative normative legal acts.


Author(s):  
Mariіa Konstantinovna Kulava

Within the presented article, taking into account already existing achievements of scientists, the concept, the main features of the principles of state administration of the executive system of Ukraine are defined. The principles of activity of executive bodies bodies according to the current legislation of Ukraine are determined. A brief description of the principles is presented, namely: the rule of law, legality, compulsory, independence, justice, impartiality and objectivity, discretion, transparency and openness of executive proceedings and its fixation by technical means, the reasonableness of the time limits for enforcement proceedings, the proportionality of enforcement measures and the amount of claims for decisions, the right to appeal decisions, actions or omissions of state executives, private performers. It is established that in general the principles of executive proceedings in the investigated normative acts are duplicated, in addition to the principles of independence and the right to appeal decisions, actions or inaction of state executives, private performers. The actual vision of the principles of public administration of the executive system of Ukraine is determined. The opinion on the need to supplement the list of principles with the following: the principle of equal competition between state and private performers through the balance between them; the principle of responsibility of the executive system bodies, their officials and private executors for damage caused as a result of violations of regulatory requirements; the principle of introducing effective incentives for voluntary implementation of decisions; the principle of professionalism and competence. Also, within the submitted article, it is stated that the use of the terms “principles” and “principles” in the Laws of Ukraine “On Bodies and Officials Performing Enforcement of Court Decisions and Decisions of Other Bodies”, “On Enforcement Proceedings”, which are adopted simultaneously and regulated, are unjustified, identical social relations.


Author(s):  
Henk Addink

The pivotal aim of this book is to explain the creation, development, and impact of good governance from a conceptual, principal perspective and in the context of national administrative law. Three lines of reasoning have been worked out: developing the concept of good governance; specification of this concept by developing principles of good governance; and implementation of these principles of good governance on the national level. In this phase of further development of good governance, it is important to have a clear concept of good governance, presented in this book as the third cornerstone of a modern state, alongside the concepts of the rule of law and democracy. That is a rather new national administrative law perspective which is influenced by regional and international legal developments; thus, we can speak about good governance as a multilevel concept. But the question is: how is this concept of good governance further developed? Six principles of good governance (which in a narrower sense also qualify as principles of good administration) have been further specified in a systematic way, from a legal perspective. These are the principles of properness, transparency, participation, effectiveness, accountability, and human rights. Furthermore, the link has been made with integrity standards. The important developments of each of these principles are described on the national level in Europe, but also in countries outside Europe (such as Australia, Canada, and South Africa). This book gives a systematic comparison of the implementation of the principles of good governance between countries.


Author(s):  
Przemysław Wilczyński

The rule of law, as stipulated in article 7 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, is one of the fundamental principles shaping the functioning of public administration in the Republic of Poland. Legality of the functioning of public administration is also accepted as the basic criterion of judicial and administrative review of the actions taken by the administration. However, judgments of administrative courts often go outside the boundaries of findings that could be made based on linguistic interpretation of legislative provisions, by referring to the rules of the legal system, including in cases where no doubts exist with regards to the interpretation of provisions. The aim of this paper is to offer insight into the basis and nature of doubts encountered with regards to the admissibility of the use of non-linguistic interpretation by administrative courts where the use of such interpretation does not appear to be required.


2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (5) ◽  
pp. 573-599
Author(s):  
Alex Batesmith ◽  
Jake Stevens

This article explores how ‘everyday’ lawyers undertaking routine criminal defence cases navigate an authoritarian legal system. Based on original fieldwork in the ‘disciplined democracy’ of Myanmar, the article examines how hegemonic state power and a functional absence of the rule of law have created a culture of passivity among ordinary practitioners. ‘Everyday’ lawyers are nevertheless able to uphold their clients’ dignity by practical and material support for the individual human experience – and in so doing, subtly resist, evade or disrupt state power. The article draws upon the literature on the sociology of lawyering and resistance, arguing for a multilayered understanding of dignity going beyond lawyers’ contributions to their clients’ legal autonomy. Focusing on dignity provides an alternative perspective to the otherwise often all-consuming rule of law discourse. In authoritarian legal systems, enhancing their clients’ dignity beyond legal autonomy may be the only meaningful contribution that ‘everyday’ lawyers can make.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (6) ◽  
pp. 1072-1097
Author(s):  
Atina Krajewska

AbstractThis article examines the relationship between reproductive rights, democracy, and the rule of law in transitional societies. As a case study, it examines the development of abortion law in Poland. The article makes three primary claims. First, it argues that the relationship between reproductive rights and the rule of law in Poland came clearly into view through the abortion judgment K 1/20, handed down by the Constitutional Tribunal in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. The judgment and the context in which it was issued and published are interpreted as reflections of deep-lying processes and problems in Polish society. Consequently, second, the article argues that analysis of the history of reproductive rights in recent decades in Poland reveals weak institutionalization of the rule of law. This is manifest in the ways in which different professional groups, especially doctors and lawyers, have addressed questions regarding abortion law. Therefore, third, the article argues that any assessment of the rule of law should take into account how powerful professional actors and organizations interact with the law. The Polish case study shows that reproductive rights should be seen as important parts of a “litmus test,” which we can use to examine the efficacy of democratic transitions and the quality of the democracies in which such transitions result.


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