p. 55914. Administrative justice: tribunals, ombudsmen, and public inquiries
- John StantonJohn StantonSenior Lecturer in Law, The City Law School, City, University of London
- and Craig PrescottCraig PrescottLecturer in Law, Bangor University
Abstract
This chapter discusses the concept of administrative justice. The complexity and scale of modern government means that it is inevitable that sometimes things will go wrong. Public bodies make hundreds of thousands of decisions each year. Sometimes, the pressures of making thousands of decisions on finite resources mean that public bodies may not treat members of the public appropriately and not fulfil the aims of good government. When things go wrong, some will wish to challenge decisions made by the public authorities. Although such disputes are usually resolved by the courts applying the principles of judicial review, alternatives such as statutory tribunals, the ombudsman, and public inquiry provide other ways to challenge decisions made by public bodies. These three procedures form the basis of the system of administrative justice.
