An evaluation of the effectiveness of the requirement for leave in judicial review matters on the right to administrative justice

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Date
2013-04-19
Authors
Phiri, Lukundo M.
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Abstract
The philosophy behind administrative justice is based on the premise that principles of equality and fairness must govern administrative bodies. As such the administrative justice is a mechanism used to ensure that the powers and duties of the government are exercised in accordance with the liberal principles of a democratic constitution and a progressive bill of rights and simultaneously contributes to the improvement of the technique of government. This dissertation was aimed at evaluating how the requirement for leave in judicial matters affects an individual's right to administrative justice. In conducting this research, literature on the subject of judicial review and administrative justice was consulted in order to determine how leave affected administrative justice. An appraisal of cases on the interpretation of leave in judicial review matters was conducted to determine judicial trends in the interpretation of leave. This was done to establish how the interpretation of leave in judicial review matters impacts on the right to administrative justice. The dissertation further evaluated the legal framework of the requirement for leave in judicial review matters as practiced in Zambia. Attention was drawn to the Order 53 of the Rules of the Supreme Court Practice of England as well as the case of the People v The Anti-Money Laundering Investigation Unit Ex-parte Mahitani. In this research various aspects of administrative justice were explored in relation to the interpretation of leave in judicial review matters. From the research, the findings were that the concept of leave in judicial review matters was not detrimental to the cause of administrative justice. However it is the manner in which it is interpreted that affects the individual's right to administrative justice. The recommendation is to interpret leave in a manner that takes into account the various interests that administrative justice seeks to serve. This includes preserving an individual's right to successfully defend their rights against administrative bodies. It was further recommended that the right to administrative justice should be entrenched in the bill of rights followed by a subsequent statute governing judicial review. Furthermore the concept of sufficient interests should be extended to include not only personal interests but also public interests such as the general enforcement of the law in furtherance of the concept of checks and balances.
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Judicial review , Administrative acts
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