Administrative Justice
Administrative Justice
- Debanjali Singha Roy
Justice represent something that is just and right. It means just, impartial, fair and right. Justice is the concept of moral rightness. The natural law school of jurisprudence believes that justice means the implementation of religious laws and on the other hand modern jurisprudence believes that justice is the implementation of concepts like equality and liberty. However justice means enforcement of what the law perceives to be right. According to Salmond, laws are the bodies of principles that tribunals recognize and apply while administering justice. In simple words justice means the recognition, application and enforcement of laws by courts. The term justice in the Preamble embraces three distinct forms: social, economic and political, bonded with various provisions of the fundamental and directive principles. We all know “Fiat Justitia, ruat caelum” in legal term which means Let Justice be done, through the heaven should fall! The administrative justice is the system by which decisions of an administrative or executive nature are made in relation a particular person. It includes procedures for making such decisions; law under which such decisions are made: systems for resolving disputes and airing grievances in relation to such decision.
Administrative justice deals how we interact as individuals when the government or those working on its behalf act in in ways that appear wrong, unfair and unjust. It encompasses matters of everyday to all of us. Such as housing, education, social security, health care, immigration and taxation. All over the world, the working poor rely on access to public space and resources to secure their livelihoods. And all over the world they face challenges that impede their ability to work. For example, in many countries street vendors are unable to access space to trade or critical infrastructure such as toilets.Local authorities often relocate vendors from natural markets, which enjoy considerable foot traffic, to areas that attract relatively little pedestrian traffic. Street vendors are routinely harassed by police and local authorities: they face evictions from their trading sites, and their goods are often confiscated and destroyed, even when they have the necessary licenses or permits to trade.Waste pickers are often excluded from tendering for waste collection and recycling contracts and are denied space to sort recyclables. They also experience harassment: local authorities confiscate the recyclables that they have collected and deny them access waste. Many of these challenges result from decisions made (most often) by local government authorities that control access to public space, and to waste. Known as administrative actions, decisions about allocating trading spaces and issuing licenses, or even the failure to make legally mandated decisions, have far-reaching impacts on informal workers’ livelihoods. Local government officials typically derive their power to regulate public space from regulations, by-laws, or city ordinances. In some cities, these regulations actively criminalize informal work. In most cities, street vendors’ livelihoods are regulated by health or traffic regulations that regard them as health risks, or as a “nuisance”. In a hostile legal environment, accessing justice may seem out of reach to informal workers, but legal remedies do exist. Even when regulations undermine their livelihoods, workers can demand a fair process. Administrative justice is the branch of law that requires public institutions and officials (as well as private institutions performing public functions) to adhere to due process principles when making administrative decisions, or taking administrative actions.
Administrative justice principles generally require public authorities to behave in a proper manner which should be lawful, reasonable and procedurally fair. Administrative justice can be a powerful means of protecting informal worker’s livelihoods. The special procedure for settling disputes in the area of administrative law. Under administrative justice system, courts or other governmental agencies hear complaints on the actions of agencies of governmental administration and adopt decisions that are binding on these agencies. In some capitalist countries, like the USA, Great Britain and the others the functions of administrative justice are exercised either by general courts or by special administrative courts (France, Switzerland, the Federal Republic of Germany, and others). France, for instance, has a system of administrative courts called administrative tribunals. The administrative tribunals consider cases dealing with administrative agencies exceeding their jurisdictions or violating the forms of activity established for them, public officials transgressing their authority, and also the complaints of officials concerning their job transfers, dismissals, and so forth. Administrative justice system is that the overall system by which decisions of the executive or executive nature are made in reference to particular persons including, procedures for creating such decisions; law under such decisions are made; and systems for resolving disputes and airing grievances in relation to such decisions.
The Swaran Singh Committee has very commendably completed its recommendatory exercises within the restructurization of the Constitution. Though the Committee covered a wide spectrum from the Preamble to Article 368 but for our limited purpose attention is focussed on those recommendations only of the Committee which relate to administrative justice.
The Committee recommends:
1. Administrative tribunals could also be found out both at the State level and at the Centre to make a decision cases concerning service matters. These tribunals shall be constituted under a Central law.
2. Provision could also be made for fixing an All-India Labour Appellate Tribunal to make a decision appeals from Labour Courts and Industrial Courts.
3. Disputes relating to the following matters shall be decided by tribunals:
(i) Any matter concerning revenue or concerning any act ordered or wiped out the gathering thereof.
(ii) Any matter concerning land reforms, ceiling on urban property and procurement and distribution of food grains and other essential commodities.
In reference to the matters specified above the writ jurisdiction of the Supreme Court under Article 32 and of the High Court under Article 226 shall be excluded. The relevant statutes governing these matters will also make specific provisions excluding the jurisdiction of courts over such matters. However, the proper way to use for special leave of the Supreme Court under Article 136 shall remain.
4. No writ shall dwell reference to election matters.
5. Regard to tribunals in Article 227 should be omitted.
6. The words \'and forother purpose\' could also be deleted from Article 226.
The logical conclusion from these recommendations is that administrative justice is on the anvil. Therefore, it is the proper time for preparing a balance sheet of the performance of the existing process of administrative justice in India and to consider its compulsions and constraints for the future. The term \'tribunal\' has been interpreted by the Supreme Court to mean not only tribunal in the ordinary sense of the term but also any administrative agency exercising the inherent judicial powers of the State. Though the power of the Court to review actions of the tribunals is discretionary and extraordinary yet the Supreme Court has not declined jurisdiction in cases of non-use and misuse of powers by the tribunals if the applicant was able to show the presence of special circumstances. Therefore, there is no room for apprehension in the mind of any person that the proposed constitutional strategy of administrative justice would leave us unprotected against administrative adjudicatory excesses because the Committee has left the apex of the administration of justice untouched which will continue to be the sentinel on the qui vive both of administrative freedom and justice to the people.
REFERENCES :-
[1] https://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Administrative+Justice.
[2] Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 s.44/ Sch.7, paras.1-11 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Administrative_Justice_and_Tribunals_Council.
[3] https://www.ebc-india.com/lawyer/articles/76v3a2.htm.
[4] Kesava Mills v. Union of India, (1973) 1 SCC 198.
[5] Kalindi v. Tata Locomotive & Engg. Co., AIR 1960.
[6] https://www.wiego.org/administrative-justice.
[7] Kanungo & Co. v. Collector of Customs, (1973) 2 SCC 438.
[8] https://www.thefreedictionary.com/justice.
[9] https://m.jagranjosh.com/general-knowledge/preamble-of-the-constitution-1434782225-1.
[10] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Administrative_Justice_and_Tribunals_Council.
[11] Bhagat Raja v. Union of India, AIR 1967 SC 1606.
