administrative law

Law

2022

We explain what Administrative Law is, its principles, characteristics and branches. Also, your sources and examples.

Administrative law involves state functions such as immigration control.

What is administrative law?

Administrative law is the branch of law that studies the organization, duties and functions of the State and its institutions, especially the powers of the executive power. Its name comes from the Latin I will minister ("Manage common affairs").

Administrative law is linked to the Public administration as a field of study. It also has theoretical and practical links with disciplines as the sociology, the economy, the psychology, the Political Sciences and other branches of law such as penal, constitutional and international.

In his observation of everything related to the management of the Condition, administrative law always supports a objective double: that of guaranteeing the effectiveness of the public administration and the various processes involved, as well as the protection of the rights of individuals in their dealings with it.

Origin of administrative law

The origins of administrative law date back to the 18th and 19th centuries, with the Liberal Revolutions that overthrew the old regime and opened the door to the republican world in the West.

Thus, it is a branch of the right relatively young, born together with the declaration of the human rights and the equality before the law of the citizens. In other words, it emerged together with the Liberal State.

The first body in charge of exercising it was the French Council of State. He was in charge of supervising the power of the State, since at that time the judges from the Old Feudal Regime were mistrusted so that they would serve as a sole counterweight to the State.

Characteristics of administrative law

Administrative law is characterized by being:

  • Common. As its principles apply to various administrative matters and in all instances of the State.
  • Autonomous. For it obeys its own general principles.
  • Local. Well, it responds to the legal-political organization of each country.
  • Exorbitant. For its scope of action exceeds private law: wherever there is a State, there will also be an administrative law.

Principles of administrative law

The principle of due process guarantees the right to defense.

There are four general principles of Administrative Law (although they are not the only ones that exist), known as principles of administrative procedure:

  • Principle of objective legality. It establishes that every act emanating from a public Power It must be given in perfect accordance with the current law and its jurisdiction, and not to the subjectivities involved, that is, to the will of the persons.
  • Principle of officiality. It establishes that the initiation, promotion and development of judicial and / or administrative processes must always depend on an organ of the public power, and not on the will of the individuals involved.
  • Informalism principle in favor of the administered. It establishes that citizens must be judged independently of the fulfillment of certain formal obligations, so that certain formal rigors do not hinder the search for a just solution for their case.
  • Principle of due process or defense guarantee. It establishes that the State must respect all the rights enshrined by the law of a person, regardless of the seriousness of the crimes that he is presumed to have committed or is proven to have committed. This implies the possibility of a defense, a trial of law under objective conditions and a punishment proportional to the seriousness of the offense. crime committed, among other things.

Sources of administrative law

The main source of Administrative Law is the Constitution (or the corresponding Magna Carta), as is the case with other branches of law. Among its sources is also the legislation with its organic, ordinary and enabling laws.

Subsequently, Administrative Law is governed by the regulations and regulations of each institution and / or state organization, and ultimately by the doctrines, social facts and customs of a nation (customary law).

Branches of administrative law

Road law intervenes in the construction of a road.

Administrative law comprises the following subdivisions or branches:

  • Organic administrative law. Study all the forms and principles of management equally.
  • Functional administrative law. It focuses on the study of the formal activity of the State, that is, its administrative procedures and acts.
  • Administrative procedural law. Study the norms that govern the actions of the State.
  • Environmental law. It focuses on the protection of environment.
  • Urban law. Study the rules that govern the construction and design of cities.
  • Customs law. Study the customs regime and control over imports and exports of a country.
  • Immigration law. It focuses on state regulations that regulate immigration and residence in a country.
  • Road law. Study the rules that govern the layout of roads, roads and traffic.
  • Municipal law. It studies the way in which the State compartmentalizes itself into smaller, local sections (municipalities).
  • Public contracting. It deals with the regulations governing the entry of new personnel to the work of the Public Administration.

Examples of administrative law

An example of the application of Administrative Law is any process of regulation of the actions carried out by public bodies, such as the trial and sentence of an offender by the respective courts.

Another example is the challenge of an election in which the fundamental principles contemplated in the Constitution were not guaranteed, or even the act of “impeachment”Or removal of a civil servant because it is considered to have disrespected fundamental administrative principles.

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