Administrative Law is generally refers to as the law relating to the control of government power. Except the Parliament, all other public authorities are subordinated to the law, such as the Crown and Ministers, local authorities and other public bodies. Such subordinate authorities are subject to legal limitations since every kind of power is open to the chances of abuse. Therefore, the primary purpose of Administrative Law is to keep the powers of the government within its legal limits in order to protect the citizens against their abuse. The British system of administrative law carries some salient features which make it sharply different from the administrative law of other European countries. In spite of a different line of evolution, it is the same recognizable system of administrative law in USA and Scotland. Under the British system of administrative law, the cases involving the validity of government action are decided by ordinary courts and not special administrative courts. In the Anglo-American System, administrative law is blended with ordinary private law at many points. In spite of the emergence of European Union Law, the impact of British Administrative Law is now showing its mark. In England, Administrative Law has a long history but the subject in its modern form emerged only in the second half of the seventeenth century. After the destruction of the Privy Council’s executive power by the Revolution of 1688 when the old machinery of central political control had been broken, the Court of King’s Bench stepped in and since then the administrative machineries began to be controlled by the courts of law. Writs of Mandamus, Certiriorari and Prohibition as well as ordinary remedy of damages were granted by the King’s Bench to the aggrieved people against administrative acts. The practical reforms to sort out the discontent with administrative procedures came only after the Report of the Committee on Administrative Tribunals and Enquiries (the Franks Committee) in 1958 when the Tribunals and Inquiries Act, 1958 was enacted.
