Constitutional law is similar to administrative law in various aspects. These are areas of the law that regulate and establish government institutions in different states. The two types of law entail the governance of legal orders internally like the European Union (EU). Both laws are about accountability enhancement within governmental entities as well as legislation (Varuhas, 2021). They work with those vested with the mandate to enact and enforce a particular law within a certain jurisdiction. The paper elucidates the intersection and divergence of constitutional and administrative law and their impact on those working in the field of public administration.
Constitutional and administrative law cannot be distinguished easily as they overlap in aspects. This is because constitutional law describes various arms of the government at rest. On the other hand, administrative law describes the organs of the state in motion. As such, they are complementary and supplementary to each other. In terms of their origin, administrative law depends on constitutional law. In India, for example, there is a written constitution and provision of additional control for administrative bodies (Tushnet, 2019). This enables the imposition of limitations upon organs under the administrative body.
Jurists, law students, and scholars have to develop a better understanding when trying to figure out the relationship between these two types of law. This is because both laws are parts of public law and show that constitutional law is the author and origin of administrative law. Such explains why the two types of law cannot be easily distinguished in terms of the aspects they have. In constitutional law, norms and principles limit arbitrary action and are adopted from administrative law principles (Wu & Sun, 2019). They include fairness and reasonable justness, which are the basis of administrative law. Norms and principles aid in the rule of governmental entities as constitutional law deals with the organs of the state and its structure. In contrast, administrative law deals with the actual functioning of those organs.
Constitutional and administrative laws diverge in different ways despite their similarities in facets. Administrative law acts as an addition to the law of the land, the supreme constitutional law. Viewing it from this perspective makes it possible to distinguish the two types of law. In their definitions, administrative law defines the authorities of administrative bodies under the law. This includes how they relate to other organs of the government and the general public. On the other hand, constitutional law deals with liberties, powers, and rights contained in a constitution that has been passed legally within a state (Varuhas, 2021). This comprises of powers of different organs of the government as well as the rights of the general public.
Various people have tried to explain the difference between the two types of law. Maurice J Holland, in his seminal work about regulatory takings and constitutional law, states that constitutional law governs the executive and legislative branches (Loveland, 2018). In addition, he states that administrative law governs the operations of these organs of the government. Ivor Jennings believes that administrative law deals with the powers, functions, and responsibilities of administrative branches (Loveland, 2018). Moreover, he believes that constitutional law deals with the larger perspectives of law. These include guiding the powers and structure of the different powers of the state.
In countries with a written constitution like India, constitutional law is obtained and derived from the constitution. On the contrary, administrative law is obtained from directives, letters of instructions, decrees, and conventions in those countries with a written constitution (Wu & Sun, 2019). This simplifies the difference between the two types of law in which constitutional law is codified into a single mode in countries with a written constitution. On the other hand, administrative law is not codified; thus, the law could exist in plenty of forms.
Divergence in the relationship between constitutional and administrative law is important for scholars and law practitioners across the globe. It has an impact on their daily dealings in the field of law, which has to be put into consideration during their daily operations. In different countries, administrative law derives power from different sources. People in the field of law need to take note of the origins of the power of this type of ruling This brings an impact in terms of understanding how different scholars interpret the law. The experts interpret the law for drafting errors, incomplete rules, and changed circumstances to fit the case they are handling at that moment.
In the recent past, administrative law has been categorized as a different branch of legal studies. Despite its unique identification, constitutional and administrative law principles overlap, calling for a deeper understanding of the two facets. Scholars and jurists must be keen since administrative law is not independent of constitutional law (Wu & Sun, 2019). Their divergence helps practitioners of law to use both types of law separately and rightfully.
Divergence contained in constitutional and administrative law enables a clear distinction between the two laws and gives authority to their practice. Legal systems vary from one country to another due to different lawful traditions. For instance, in some districts, the cases are under-represented while in others they are over-represented. Someone working in the field of public administration stands a chance to develop leadership qualities, manage people, and hold important positions in the government.
References
Loveland, I. (2018). Constitutional law, administrative law, and human rights: A critical introduction. Oxford University Press.
Tushnet, M. (2019). The globalisation of constitutional law as a weakly neo-liberal project. Global Constitutionalism, 8(1), 29-39.
Varuhas, J. N. (2021). Submission to the UK Government’s independent review of administrative law. Available at SSRN 3884673.
Wu, J., & Sun, Y. (2019). Study on utterances of administrative law enforcement in van Dijk’s critical discourse analysis.International Journal of Legal Discourse, 4(2), 217-236.