Separation of Powers in the Context of Administrative Agencies
Under the US Constitution there are three organs of the Government. While the legislature makes the laws, the executive enforces the laws and the judiciary interprets the law or decides disputes before it in accordance with laws.
Regulatory or Administrative Agencies do not really fit into any one these three branches. Their functions have the ingredients of all the said three organs overlapping.
For instance, the Securities and Exchange Commission administers the laws of the securities market and prosecutes the violators. Like a legislature it makes laws relating to disclosure norms in the prospectus for issue of shares. As an adjudicator, it can try allegations of violations and prescribe punishment of the offending broker or issuer corporate.
These administrative agencies are established to safeguard and protect public interest in their respective fields such as securities market, foreign trade, environment, commercial aviation, medical equipment manufacturing and so on.
These governmental agencies have law or rule making powers concerning their own fields of public interest by virtue of the concerned parent statute of their creation and empowerment. They also have ad judicatory functions for settling differences and disputes upon observance of ‘ due process norms’.
Federal and state laws create these federal and state regulatory agencies respectively and place them under the executive branch of the Government. However, as already indicated, their roles extend to law making, law enforcing and adjudicating functions in their demarcated spheres of activity. Such combination is to ensure flexibility, effectiveness and dynamism of the regulatory agencies with checks and balances to prevent abuse of power.
The set up of administrative agencies is a departure from the notion of separation of powers.( More
