Rule of Law and Administrative Law

Rule of Law and Administrative Law
Meaning and Origin

The rule of law is a product of centuries of the struggle of the people for
the recognition of their inherent rights. In classical Greece, Aristotle wrote
that “law should be the final sovereign”. In 1215, the Magna Carta checked
in the corrupt and whimsical rule of King John by declaring that the
government should not proceed except in accordance with the law of the
land. During the thirteenth century, Thomas Aquinas argued that the rule
of law represents the natural order of God as ascertained through divine
inspiration and human resource. In the seventeenth century, the English
jurist Sir Edward Coke asserted that the “king ought to be under no man,
but under God and the law.” Despite its ancient history, the rule of law is
not celebrated in all quarters. The English philosopher Jeremy Bentham
described the rule of law “nonsense on stilts.” The twentieth century has
seen political leaders who have oppressed disfavoured persons or groups,
without warning or reason, governing as if no such thing as rule of law
existed. For many people around the world, the rule of law is essential to
freedom.
The most famous exposition of the concept of rule of law has been
laid down by A.V. Dicey (Law of the Constitution) who identifies three
principles which together establish the rule of law:
The absolute supremacy or predominance of regular law as opposed to
the influence of arbitrary power.
Equality before the law or the equal subjection of all classes to the
ordinary law of the land administered by the ordinary courts; and
The law of the constitution is a consequence of the rights of individuals as
defined and enforced by the courts
When explained, it amounts to, in Dicey’s own words:
“……every official, from the Prime Minister down to a constable or a

collector of taxes, is under the same responsibility for every act done
without legal justification as any other citizen. The reports abound with
cases in which officials have been brought before the courts, and made, in
their personal capacity, liable to punishment or to payment of damages, for
acts done in their official character but in excess of their lawful authority.
[Appointed government officials and politicians, alike] …. And all
subordinates, though carrying out the commands of their official superiors,
are as responsible for any act which the law does not authorize as is any
private and unofficial person.
Criticisms
Dicey’s concept has been criticized because of the predominance of
ordinary laws and the absence of arbitrary power. Discretionary power is a
must when it comes to the application of laws by governmental agencies
like impartial and independent tribunals. Due to these limitations, the rule
of law still remains a cardinal principle of every democratic government. It
is true that delegated legislation and administrative jurisdiction are both the
worst enemies of the rule of law. The development of delegated legislation
and administrative justice, however, are not only inevitable but also, with
proper modification and safeguards, desirable.
Dicey’s notions may have been criticized but the main idea behind the rule
of law still holds i.e. protection of individual rights and liberties. For a
democratic government, the rule of law is a basic requirement; and for the
maintenance of the rule of law, there must be an independent and
impartial judiciary. It is embodied in the concept of rule of law that equality
before the law or equal protection of laws is ensured to all citizens, and
every citizen is protected from the arbitrary exercise of power by the state.
Thus, in a state professing the rule of law, the aim should be to provide for
a system which secures to its citizens’ adequate procedure for the redress
of their grievances against the state before forums, which are able to
administer justice in an impartial manner without any fear or favour. Each
country has devised its own system to ensure the maintenance of the rule
of law. The rule of law pervades the entire field of administration and
regulates every organ of the state.
Rule of law in India
The Constitution of India specifically provides that the state shall not deny
to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws.
The concept of rule of law would lose all its vitality if the instrumentalities
of the State are not charged with the duties of discharging their functions
in a fair and just manner. It has been held that the rule of law pervades the
constitution as its basic feature and cannot be taken away even by an
amendment of the constitution. In a system governed by rule of law,
discretion, when conferred upon executive authorities, must be confined
within clearly defined limits. This means that decision should be made by
the application of known principles and rules and, in general, such
decisions should be predictable and citizens should know where he
stands.
The Constitution lays down in Part IV the directive principle of state policy.
It enjoins the State to bring about a social order in which justice – social,
economic and political – shall govern all the institutions of national life. The
rule of law promotes the lofty ideals enshrined in the directive principles of
state policy and draws its sustenance from the higher judiciary, which
upholds the constitutionality of laws keeping in view the philosophy of
these ideals.
A growing threat to the rule of law is coming from undue delay in judicial
proceedings. In order to ensure the rule of law, the system must, therefore,
ensure effective and expeditious remedies against the violation of laws.
Basic Principles of the Rule of Law
 Law is Supreme, above everything and everyone. Nobody is above the law.
 All things should be done according to law and not according to whim.
 No person should be made to suffer except for a distinct breach of law.
 Absence of arbitrary power being the heart and soul of the rule of law.
 Equality before the law and equal protection of the law.
 Discretionary power should be exercised within reasonable limits set by law.
 Adequate safeguard against executive abuse of powers.
 Independent and impartial Judiciary.
 Fair and Just Procedure.
 Speedy Trial
Rule of Law and Indian Constitution
In India the Constitution is supreme. The preamble of our
Constitution clearly sets out the principle of rule of law. It is
sometimes said that planning and welfare schemes
essentially strike at rule of law because they affect the
individual freedoms and liberty in many ways. But the rule
of law plays an effective role by emphasizing upon fair
play and greater accountability of the administration. It
lays greater emphasis on the principles of natural justice
and the rule of speaking order in an administrative
process in order to eliminate administrative arbitrariness.
Case laws
In an early case, S.G. Jaisinghani V. Union of India and others the
Supreme Court portrayed the essentials of rule of law in a very lucid
manner. It observed: “The absence of arbitrary power is the first essential
of the rule of law upon which our whole constitutional system is based. In a
system governed by rule of law, discretion, when conferred upon executive
authorities, must be continued within clearly defined limits. The rule of law
from this points of view means that decisions should be made by the
application of known principles and rules and, in general, such decision
should be predictable and the citizen should know where he is. If a
decision is taken without any principle or without any rule it is
unpredictable and such a decision is the antithesis of a decision taken in
accordance with the rule of law”.
The Supreme Court in a case, namely, Supreme Court Advocates on
Record Association v. Union of India , reiterated that the absence of
arbitrariness is one of the essentials of rule of law. The Court observed.
“For the rule of law to be realistic there have to be rooms for discretionary
authority within the operation of rule of law even though it has to be
reduced to the minimum extent necessary for proper, governance, and
within the area of discretionary authority, the existence of proper
guidelines or norms of general application excludes any arbitrary exercise
of discretionary authority. In such a situation, the exercise of discretionary
authority in its application to individuals, according to proper guidelines
and norms, further reduces the area of discretion, but to that extent
discretionary authority has to be given to make the system workable.
Conclusion
The recent expansion of the rule of law in every field of administrative

functioning has assigned it is a place of special significance in the Indian
administrative law. The Supreme Court, in the process of interpretation of
rule of law vis-à-vis operation of administrative power, in several cases,
emphasized upon the need of fair and just procedure, adequate
safeguards against any executive encroachment on personal liberty, free
legal aid to the poor and speedy trial in criminal cases as necessary
adjuncts to rule of law. Giving his dissenting opinion in the Death penalty
case, Mr. Justice Bhagwati explains fully the significance of rule of law in
the following words: The rule of law permeates the entire fabric of the
Constitution and indeed forms one of its basic features.
The rule of law excludes arbitrariness, its postulate is ‘intelligence without

passion’ and reason free from desire. Wherever we find arbitrariness or
unreasonableness there is a denial of the rule of law. Law in the context of
rule of law does not mean any law enacted by legislative authority,
howsoever arbitrary, despotic it may be, otherwise even in dictatorship it
would be possible to say that there is rule of law because every law made
by the dictator, however arbitrary and unreasonable, has to be obeyed and
every action has to be taken in conformity with such law. In such a case
too even where the political set-up is dictatorial it is the law that governs
the relationship between men.

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Rule of Law and Administrative Law

Meaning and Origin

“……every official, from the Prime Minister down to a constable or a

The recent expansion of the rule of law in every field of administrative

The rule of law excludes arbitrariness, its postulate is ‘intelligence without

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