Module Identifier | LA30310 | ||
Module Title | ADMINISTRATIVE LAW | ||
Academic Year | 2001/2002 | ||
Co-ordinator | Ms Bettina Lange | ||
Semester | Semester 1 | ||
Pre-Requisite | LA10110 or LA30110 or LA15710 and LA16220 or LA36220 | ||
Mutually Exclusive | LA10310 | ||
Course delivery | Lecture | 20 Hours Two one hour lectures per week | |
Seminar | 4 Hours Four one hour seminars during the semester | ||
Assessment | Essay | 2000 words required in week 6 | 50% |
Exam | 1.5 Hours | 50% | |
Resit assessment | By retaking the failed element (ie written assignment or examination or both, as applicable) | ||
Professional Exemptions | Required for Professional Purposes |
Administrative law is a dynamic subject in which legal rules can change quickly. Stephen Sedley, a High Court judge, has called it 'the most dynamic of all contemporary fields of law'. One reason for this is of course the close link between administrative law and politics, which will be explored in this module. For example, the government's policy on genetically modified organisms has become a subject matter for administrative law. The pressure group 'Friends of the Earth' has challenged in a judicial review action the Home Secretary's decision to continue the outdoor trial planting of GMO crops.
Administrative law is also dynamic because it can no longer be just understood in a national context but is influenced by legal and political developments on a local and international level. For example, the Government of Wales Act 1998 gives rise to new administrative structures and legal mechanisms in Wales. At an international level in particular EC law, for example through the principle of proportionality, has influenced administrative law in Britain.
Administrative law can be also a very practical subject. Nearly everybody is affected at various stages in his/her life by administrative law. For example, the disciplinary powers which the University has in relation to students and students' relationships with the Student Loan Company are guided by administrative law principles.
To develop critical understanding of how the law regulates and facilitates the activities of government.
To provide a basis for more detailed work, either through study of public law modules in subsequent semesters (such as welfare and housing law) and/or through research for undergraduate dissertations.
knowledge about the regulation of administrative activities in Britain.
skills in reading and analyzing administrative legislation and cases.
an understanding of contextual factors, such as political dynamics which shape the legal powers and control of the administration.
Students should acquire skills that are relevant beyond legal work:
- reading and understanding legal materials should develop students' general
powers of analysis, such as problem solving and constructing arguments
- students should develop skills in communicating their ideas clearly and
concisely through seminar discussions and the assessed essay
- exercises during the seminars should develop team working skills, including self-awareness, self confidence and inter personal skills
- the completion of the written assignment, students' own reading in the library and seminar preparation should develop their skills of self-motivation, time management and organisational skills
Lecture 2: A case study illustrating key themes of contemporary administrative law.
Lecture 3: Powers and institutions in the modern administrative state I:
1. Structures: A description of central government powers and institutions.
2. Philosophies: "New Public Management".
Lecture 4: Powers and institutions in the modern administrative state II: Local government and devolution in Wales.
Lecture 5: How do the courts control the administration?
- The public/private law distinction.
Lecture 6: Introduction to judicial review:
- Procedural issues: standing.
Lecture 7: Grounds of Judicial Review I
- Proportionality
Lecture 8: Grounds of Judicial Review II
- Human Rights.
Lecture 9: Judicial Review in action (Guest Lecture).
Lecture 10: Grounds of Judicial Review II: Illegality, 1.
Lecture 11: Grounds of Judicial Review II: Illegality, 2.
Lecture 12: Grounds of Judicial Review III:
- Irrationality and Unreasonableness I.
Lecture 13: Grounds of Judicial Review III:
- Irrationality and Unreasonableness II.
Lecture 14: Grounds of Judicial Review IV
- Procedural Impropriety I
Lecture 15: Grounds of Judicial Review IV
- Procedural Impropriety II
Lecture 16: The Judicial Review
- Action in government contracts I.
Lecture 17: The Judicial Review
- Action in government contracts II.
Lecture 18: Alternative redress mechanisms: Ombudspeople
Lecture 19: Alternative redress mechanisms: Ombudspeople
Lecture 20: Revision.