Subject of the Remedies
Various members of the executive government make administrative decisions.
These decisions are authorised by various means. The decisions take two
basic forms – discretion and duty.
Executive Government
Executive government contains several possible decision makers. These are as
follows:
(1)
Head of State. The head may be variously styled as President, Prime
Minister or Premier. Frequently the head of state is authorised to make
administrative decisions. In Westminster systems of government typically the
head of state generally acts only on the advice of the cabinet, usually sitting in
its formal guise as the Privy Council or Executive Council.
(2)
Cabinet. Cabinet is the collection of the heads of the various
government departments. It may include all heads or just some of them. In
Westminster systems of government cabinet sometimes has a formal identity
as the Privy Council (in the United Kingdom) or the Executive Council (former
colonies of the United Kingdom). Theoretically cabinet, the Privy Council or
the Executive Council could be authorised to make decisions, but this virtually
never happens. Even though cabinet or a Council makes the decision in
principle, the actual or designated maker of the decision is typically either the
head of state or one of the heads of a government department.
(3)
Head of Department. Heads of department are frequently labelled as a
Secretary or Minister (for the relevant area of responsibility). It is very
common for statutes to vest decision making powers in a head of department.
(4)
Statutory Office.
A statutory office is an office created by statute. In
formal terms it is classified as a corporation sole since the corporation is
composed of just one member. An example in Australia is the Commission of
Taxation.
(5)
Statutory Body. A statutory body is
a body created by statute. In
formal terms it is classified as a corporation aggregate since the corporation is
composed of more than one member.
(6)
Qango. The term Qango is an acronym referring to a quasi autonomous
non government organisation. Prominent examples are bodies that regulate
some professions, which have two characteristics. These bodies are privately
composed by the profession in question. However, they exercise a public
function in that they control entry to the profession and are responsible for
disciplining its members. Because of this mixture –
private composition but
public function –
these bodies represent a special problem to administrative
law.
Sources of Power
Power to make an administrative decision comes from one of the following
sources:
 |
 |
 |