Origin and Organisation of the Administrative Law and Courts

According to Dicey, the system of administrative law is based on two principles. Firstly, the government and its servants, as representatives of the nation, have special rights, privileges and powers as against the private citizens, and are to be judged differently from the legal rights of private citizens towards each other. Secondly, theory of separation of powers and the considerations of administrative’efficiency require that the judiciary should not interfere in administrative matters of the executive organ. These were the considerations which led to the development of the administrative courts and administrative law in France after the French Revolution of 1789.

“The feeling was that if the judges were allowed to decide controversies arising between the State and its administrative authorities, on the one hand, and private individuals, on the other, it would result in judicial interference in the operations of the government and impair the efficiency of the administration.” Accordingly, the Act of 1790 laid down that the judicial and administrative functions should be separated and the jurisdiction of the judicial courts should be confined to the decision of the cases of private citizens only, arising under the civil or criminal law.

The highest administrative court in France is the Council of State in Paris. There are a number of Regional Councils in the Departments or districts. The system of administrative law and administrative courts originated in France, but has now been adopted by several other European countries, like Germany, etc, and by Japan. In Germany, however, there are special tribunals for each of several types of cases: railways, social insurance, etc.

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