Historical Background of Administrative Law and reasons for its growth

Historical Background of Administrative Law In England, by and large, the existence of Administrative Law as a separate branch of law was not accepted until the advent of the 20th century. In 1885, Dicey in his famous thesis on rule of law observed that there was no Administrative Law in England. In 1914, however, Dicey changed his views. In his famous book `Law and the Constitution', he admitted that during the last thirty years, due to increase of duties and authority of English officials, some elements of droit had entered into the law of England Administrative Law was in existence in India even in ancient times. The kings observed the rule of Dharma and administrators and nobody claimed any exemption from it. With the establishment of East India Company and the advent of the British Rule in India, the powers of the Government had increased. Many Acts, statutes and the British Government, regulating public safety, health, morality, transport and labour relations, passed legislations. Since Independence, the activities and the functions of the Government have further increased. The philosophy of a welfare State has been specifically embodied in the Constitution of India. The Constitution of India, which clearly mentions the welfare aspect of the State, and provides for an elaborate system of judicial control under Articles 32, 226 and 227 does accord recognition to the growing importance of this subject. The Constitution also envisages `tribunals', public sector and government liability, which are important aspects of Administrative Law. The Constitution of India visualizes a profound social transformation through law and Administrative Law must play a very significant role in channeling the State effort so as to make it consistent with the democratic values built into it. The following factors are responsible for the rapid growth and development of administrative law : (1) There is a radical change in the philosophy as to the role played by the State. The negative policy of maintaining `law and order' and of `laissez faire' is given up. The state has not confined its scope to the traditional and minimum functions of defence and has adopted the positive policy and as a welfare State has undertaken to perform varied function. (2) The judicial system proved inadequate to decide and settle all types of disputes. (3) The legislative process was also inadequate. It had no time and technique to deal with all the details. (4) There is scope for experiments in administrative process. Here a rule can be made, tried for some time and if it is found defective, it can be altered or modified within a short period. (5) The administrative authorities can avoid technicalities. Administrative Law represents functional rather than a theoretical and legalistic approach. (6) Administrative authorities can take preventive measures. In many cases, these preventive actions may prove to be more effective and useful than punishing a person after he has committed a breach of any provision of law. (7) Administrative authorities can take effective steps for enforcement of the aforesaid preventive measures e.g. suspension, revocation and cancellation of licences, destruction of contaminated articles, etc., which are not generally available through regular courts of law.