Administrative law is the body of law that governs the activities of government agencies. It deals with issues that are too complex or cumbersome for the legislature to handle on a regular basis.
Administrative agencies possess attributes of all three traditional 성범죄전문변호사 branches of government. They make rules (a legislative function), investigate matters under their jurisdiction (an executive function), and adjudicate disputes involving their subjects (a judicial function). These functions are governed by Constitutional and statutory parameters.
Administrative agencies
Administrative agencies are governmental bodies that perform a wide range of functions in the United States. These agencies create rules and regulations to govern their fields. They help the government to quickly dispose of minor and complex cases and to reserve judicial resources for more significant matters. The laws that govern these agencies are known as administrative law. Depending on the subject area, these agencies can have broad or limited powers. Typically, they have an enabling statute that creates them and specifies their scope of activities. In addition, the Administrative Procedure Act sets out standards that federal courts must follow when reviewing an agency’s lawmaking actions.
The main function of administrative agencies is to implement broad public policy in an increasingly complex world. Although these agencies have enormous power, they must always act within Constitutional and statutory limits. In addition, they must also ensure that those under their jurisdiction receive procedural due process. Unlike general legislative bodies, agencies specialize in their fields and develop expertise through years of experience.
In addition to the statutory authority granted by their enabling statutes, administrative agencies have the power to enforce their own laws through adjudication or enforcement actions. During this process, an adjudicator decides the outcome of a dispute and may issue binding legal decisions. In contrast, an appeal is a review of the validity of an earlier decision by an administrative body. The process of an appeal is governed by common law principles, such as due process in the United States or fundamental justice in Canada.
Enabling statutes
An enabling statute is a statute that creates an administrative agency and specifies its powers. This gives the agency broad discretion in carrying out its mission, and courts usually defer to an agency’s interpretation of its own regulations unless the law is arbitrary or capricious. Enabling statutes also provide a starting point for researching regulatory law, and they can be useful in identifying potential sources of secondary legal authority.
Although enabling legislation provides some control over an agency, the primary source of law for many agencies is the regulatory statute itself. Some enabling statutes are very general, for example state public health laws often simply say that the agency should protect the public’s health. However, other enabling statutes are specific about the policy that Congress wants to implement and how it will be enforced, giving agencies a lot of latitude in fleshing out the details through administrative rules.
In addition to enabling statutes, administrative agencies also create regulations that function like laws. These are published in the Federal Register, which is available for free on GovInfo (KF 70.A2) or in print at JK 421.A31). Regulations are also available on HeinOnline’s Code of Federal Regulations Library, Bloomberg Law (from the “Legislative & Regulatory” tab), LexisNexis, and Westlaw. These resources can be helpful in finding citations for regulations, which are often arranged chronologically and by subject.
Regulatory agencies
Regulatory agencies are independent governmental bodies that establish standards in a particular field of activity or operations and then enforce those standards. They usually function outside of direct executive supervision, and their decisions are subject to judicial review. In addition, these agencies often conduct hearings to adjudicate matters of controversy and pass judgment on compliance with their regulations. Unlike criminal or civil courts, these agencies have quasi-judicial authority.
Over the course of the twentieth century, legislative bodies around the world created a variety of government agencies to regulate various aspects of the economy and society. These agencies grew in importance because of the growing complexity of business and societal activities, as well as a shift in public opinion toward greater governmental regulation.
Research in administrative law explores the laws, procedures, and legal institutions that affect governmental agencies as they carry out their legislation and administer public programs. Research on these subjects is characterized by prescriptive efforts to design rules that better promote democratic values, as well as empirical efforts to understand how law influences the behavior of administrative institutions. Eckstein Library has a wide variety of print and online resources on this topic, including treatises, law review articles, study aids, practitioners’ materials, subject serials, and monographs. See the tabs below for information about specific topics, and visit Marqcat, our catalog, for more information on all our resources.
Administrative law courts
Administrative law courts are an important part of the administrative justice system. These courts are independent of a specific agency and serve as a neutral forum for citizens who wish to challenge the actions of a government body. They conduct hearings, issue initial decisions, and adjudicate ancillary matters. They also administer oaths, take evidence, and make factual and legal determinations in proceedings. Administrative law judges are empowered to order sanctions when they find a respondent has violated the rules of a specific regulatory agency. These sanctions may include censure, fines, and/or license revocation.
In general, the jurisdiction of an administrative court is based on statutory authority. The statutory laws that authorize an administrative court to hear a particular type of case typically specify which parties are eligible for review, and which sanctions are available. In some cases, the jurisdiction of an administrative court can be challenged by petitioning a higher level of government to review the decision.
Administrative law includes the laws and legal principles governing the creation of agencies and their operations. These laws regulate internal relations between the agency and other government bodies, and external relations between the agency and private individuals or businesses. They also provide for judicial review of the decisions of an administrative agency, with courts examining whether a decision is unreasonable or ultra vires.