Understanding Administrative Law: Formal and Material Perspectives

1. Formal Administrative Activity

This perspective identifies administrative activity with the formal legal system of management, including administrative procedures, contracts, expropriation, responsibility, and omissions. It is defined by a set of rules that govern the operation of executive power, aiming to protect the interests of social groups.

2. Material Administrative Activity

This complementary perspective analyzes the specific sectors impacted by Public Administration (AAPP). It examines the actions, techniques, and means employed within these sectors—essentially focusing on the functions performed by the administration. This analysis connects to broader issues beyond administrative law, such as determining the state's objectives, functions, and the purposes attributed to the State by the Constitution.

3. Concept of the Administrative Act

An administrative act is the manner in which management makes a decision and communicates it to the recipient. These actions are not dictated arbitrarily by any AAPP but are governed by specific competencies. Professor Martin Matthew defines an administrative action as: "A unilateral statement, not regulatory, by the Administration, subject to administrative law."

Elements of the Administrative Act

• a) Unilaterality: Through administrative action, the administration may impose certain behaviors on individuals according to the law. Unlike a contract, this does not require the concurrence of two wills.
• b) Non-normative: Administrative acts are distinguished from legal norms (regulations) issued by the administration. Legal rules innovate the law, whereas administrative acts involve the application of existing law to a specific case, reaffirming its validity.
• c) Administrative Source: This signifies that the act must emanate from an administrative body. Certain acts from administrative organs are treated as administrative actions for the purpose of jurisdictional challenges before contentious-administrative courts.
• d) Subject to Administrative Law: One must not equate an "administrative act" with an "act of the administration." Some acts of the administration are subject to private law rather than administrative law; such acts are challenged before the ordinary national courts.