The doctrine of ultra vires in Maltese administrative law

Abstract

The aim of this thesis is an examination of the doctrine of ultra vires within the ambit of Maltese Administrative Law and particularly in its application by the courts in their review of the acts and decisions of administrative authorities. This is an area where substantial developments have occurred relatively recently particularly through Act XXIV of 1995 which introduced Article 469A in the Code of Organization and Civil Procedure. The thesis begins with a general examination of the doctrine of ultra vires with a view to placing it within the context of judicial review. It may be said that the essence of the judicial review jurisdiction of the courts is that of ensuring that statutory powers are not usurped, exceeded or abused and that procedural and substantive duties owed to the public are duly performed by the administrative bodies. The second chapter then proceeds to examine the various grounds of judicial review developed by the Maltese courts since not only are they are all different applications and interpretations of the fundamental principle that an administrative authority may not act outside its power, i.e. ultra vires, they also demonstrate the subtlety and sophistication of judicial elaboration of the ultra vires doctrine. The thesis then proceeds to examine the doctrine of ultra vires as embodied in the old Article 742 (2), which prior to the enactment of Article 469A regulated judicial review of administrative acts. Under this article the concept of ultra vires was considerably limited consequently jurisprudence pertinent to this particular phase in Maltese administrative law is also examined. Chapter 4 then focuses on the enactment of the currently applied Article 469A (1 ). An examination of the considerations that led to its enactment and current format will be carried out with particular emphasis on the four grounds of ultra vires contained with in it. Reference will be made to the reports of the Permanent Law Reform Commission and the ad-hoe Commission which guided the reforms implemented through Act XXIV of 1995. The final chapter examines any relevant case law which highlights the way these grounds have been interpreted and applied by the Maltese Courts. It should be pointed out that throughout the thesis reference is made to British Common Law and case law to further clarify the application of this doctrine.