Characteristic Features and Principles of Administrative Law

Characteristic Features of Administrative Law

What are the characteristic features of administrative law?

Nature and Scope

• Administrative law is a branch of public law and is closely related to, but sometimes intertwined with, private law.
• Administrative law is the statutory framework for Public Administrations (AA.PP.). It governs the organization and functioning of public administration, for example the Statute of Autonomy of Galicia.
• Administrative law is ordinary and general in application because it applies to all Public Administrations (PAs).
• Administrative law is a law of privileges and guarantees.

Privileges and Powers of the Administration

We call it a law of privileges because it grants exceptional powers to Public Administrations (AA.PP.), often referred to as the powers of the administration. These powers can be superior to the rights of private persons. The main privileges include:

• The authority or power to impose penalties.
• The power of eminent domain (expropriation).
• Administrative enforcement (execution in office): the administration may seize individuals' bank accounts to collect debts (executive enforcement).

Appeals and Grounds for Challenge

Against administrative enforcement or acts, appeals or challenges are possible. Common grounds include:

• Lack of proper notification of the act.
• Prescription of the debt (4 years).
• Matters related to licenses of any kind.
• Adoption of rules (laws, ordinances, etc.).

These privileges and powers place the administration in a position of clear supremacy over citizens, always justified by the public authority or social interest.

Limits, Guarantees and Safeguards

We also call administrative law a law of privileges and guarantees because, to prevent abuse or arbitrary use of privileges, citizens are protected by a series of safeguards against maladministration. For example, in the EU there is a code of good administrative behaviour for the European institutions.

Main Guarantees

• The complete submission of Public Administrations (AA.PP.) to judicial review.
• Administrative activities must follow full administrative formalities (Law 30/1992). These steps or phases highlight the need to grant the parties procedural rights, such as:
• A hearing process on issues that affect the parties (Art. 84 of Act 30/1992: "hearing process").
• The right to compensation for damages sustained by citizens as a result of the workings of public services: Public Administrations' Patrimonial Responsibility (Arts. 139–146).

Procedural Rights and Remedies

Procedural guarantees require timely notification, the opportunity to be heard, and access to judicial remedies when administrative actions cause harm. These safeguards balance the administration's exceptional powers with protections for individual rights.