| CODE | PBL2022 | ||||||||
| TITLE | Basic Notions of Administrative Law | ||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 02 - Years 2, 3 in Modular Undergraduate Course | ||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 5 | ||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 4 | ||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Public Law | ||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | This study unit will commence with the fundamentals of the subject, namely 'What is Administrative Law?' and 'What are the sources of Administrative Law?' One of the sources of Administrative Law, is the written law itself. Certain laws are of fundamental importance to this topic, starting from the Constitution of Malta (e.g. the provisions dealing with the Public Service Commission), and moving to the Public Administration Act. Another source of Administrative Law is salient court judgments, from which a number of legal principles emerge, dealing inter alia with natural justice, reasonableness, proportionality and judicial review (pre-Act No. 8 of 1981). The last aspect of judicial review will also be compared and contrasted with the notion of 'appeals', which will lead the lecturer to introduce the Administrative Review Tribunal and the plethora of other administrative appeals bodies which exist in Malta. Study-Unit Aims: This study-unit aims to provide information on the basic principles of administrative law. These include the principles of natural justice and judicial review of administrative action. It discusses the workings of the public administration and the role of the Ombudsman. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: 1. write upon Administrative Law and its various pervading principles; 2. understand better the workings of the Maltese Public Administration; 3. discuss the main doctrines in Administrative Law which have been developed by the Maltese Courts over the years. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: 1. apply the basic principles of administrative law, when practising in the field of administrative law; 2. advise others on these principles and hold the authorities to account for any shortcomings; 3. apply given facts to the law at issue. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main Texts: - Ivan Mifsud "Judicial Review of Administrative Action in Malta. An Examination of Article 469A COCP and of Judicial Review in General" (2017, Books Distributors Limited). - Ian Refalo "Administrative Law cases and commentary" (2012). Supplementary Readings: - Paul Craig 'EU Administrative Law' (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2nd Edition, Marchj 2012). - Jurgen Schwarze “European Administrative Law” Luxembourg: Office for Official Publication of the European Communities, 1992. - William Wade and Christopher Forsyth “Administrative Law” Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2014. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture | ||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Tonio Borg |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2024/5. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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