ADMINISTRATIVE LAW

Definition of Administrative Law:

In a general sense, administrative law embraces all the law that controls, or is intended to
control, the administrative operations of government.
That branch of public law which fixes the organization of government, determines the
competence of the administrative authorities who execute the law, and indicates to the
individual remedies for the violation of his rights (Goodnow, Comparative Administrative Law).
That system of legal principles which settles the conflicting claims of the executive and
administrative authorities on the one hand and of the individual or private right on the other
(Freund, Cases on Administrative Law).
Purpose of administrative Law:
The chief concern of administrative law, as all other branches of civil law, is the protection of
private rights.
Function of Administrative Law:
The main function of administrative law is to make the government machinery work well and in
orderly manner.
Sources of Administrative Law:
Constitution;
Special Legislations creating specialized agencies;
Revised Administrative Code;
1987 Administrative Code (Executive Order No. 292);
Kinds of Administrative Law:
Statutes setting up administrative authorities;
The body of doctrines and decisions dealing with creation, operation, and effect of
determinations and regulations of such administrative authorities;
Rules, regulations, or orders of such administrative authorities in pursuance of the purposes for
which administrative authorities were created or endowed; and
Determinations, decisions, and orders of such administrative authorities in the settlement of
controversies arising in their particular fields.
Definition of Terms:
Administrative Bodies or Agencies refer to the organ of government, other than a court and
other than a legislature, which affects the rights of private parties either through adjudication or
rule-making.
Agency includes any department, bureau, office, commission, authority or officer of the
National Government authorized by law or executive order to make rules, issue licenses, grant
of rights or privileges, and adjudicate cases; research institutions with respect to licensing
functions; government corporations with respect to functions regulating private right, privilege,
occupation or business; and official in the exercise of disciplinary power as provided by law
(Section 2 [1], Chapter I, Book VII, Executive Order No. 292).
Department refers to an executive department created by law (Section 2, par. 7, Introductory
Provisions, Executive Order No. 292).
Bureau refers to any principal subdivision or unit of any department (Section 2, par. 8,
Introductory Provisions, Executive Order No. 292).
Office refers, within the framework of governmental organization, to any major functional unit
of a department or bureau including regional offices. It may also refer to any position held or
occupied by individual persons, whose functions are defined by law or regulation (Section 2, par.
9, Introductory Provisions, Executive Order No. 292).
Instrumentality refers to any agency of the National Government, not integrated within the
department framework, vested with special functions or jurisdiction by law, endowed with some
if not all corporate powers, administering special funds, and enjoying operational autonomy,
usually through a charter. This term includes regulatory agencies, chartered institutions and
government-owned or controlled corporation (Section 2, par. 10, Introductory Provisions,
Executive Order No. 292).
Government of the Republic of the Philippines refers to the corporate governmental entity
through which the functions of government are exercised throughout the Philippines, including,
save as the contrary appears from the context, the various arms through which political
authority is made effective in the Philippines, whether pertaining to the autonomous regions,
the provincial, city, municipal or barangay subdivisions or other forms of local government
(Section 2, par. 1, Introductory Provisions, Executive Order No. 292).
Reasons for creation of administrative agencies:
1) To meet the growing complexities of the modern society;
2) To unclog court dockets;
3) To help in the regulation of ramified activities of developing country;
4) To entrust to specialized agencies in specified fields with their special knowledge,
experience, and capability the task of dealing with problems thereof as they have the
experience, expertise and power of dispatch to provide solutions thereto.
Common Types of Administrative Agencies:
a) Agencies created to function in situations wherein the government is offering some gratuity,
grant, or special privileges. e.g. Philippine Veterans Board, Board on Pensions for Veterans,
Philippine Veterans Administration, Government Service Insurance System, and the Social
Security System.
b) Agencies set up to function in situations wherein the government is seeking to carry on certain
governmental functions. e.g. Bureau of Immigration, Bureau of Internal Revenue, Board of
Special Inquiry and Board of Commissioners, the Civil Service Commission, the Central Bank.
c) c) Agencies set up to function in situations wherein the government is performing some
business service for the public. e.g. the Bureau of Posts, the Postal Savings Bank, Metropolitan
Waterworks and Sewerage Authority, Philippine National Railways, the Civil Aeronautics
Administration.
d) d) Agencies set up to function in situations wherein the government is seeking to regulate
business affected with public interest. e.g. Fiber Inspection Board, the Philippine Patent Office,
Office of the Insurance Commissioner.
e) e) Agencies set up to function in situations where the government is seeking under the police
power to regulate private business and individuals. e.g. Securities and Exchange Commission,
Board of Food Inspectors, the Board of Review of Motion Pictures, and the Professional
Regulations Commission.
f) f) Agencies set up to function in situations wherein the government is seeking to adjust
individual controversies because of strong social policy. e.g. National Labor Relations
Commission, the Court of Agrarian Relations, the Regional Offices of the Ministry of Labor,
Bureau of Labor Standards.
g) g) Agencies set up to function in situations where the government is seeking to conduction
investigations and gather evidence for information, recommendations of prosecution of crimes.
e.g. Commission on Human Rights, the National Bureau of Investigation and the Prosecutors
Office
Criterion:
A body or agency is administrative where its function is primarily regulatory even if it conducts hearings
and determines and determines controversies to carry out its regulatory duty. On its rule-making
authority, it is administrative when it does not have discretion to determine what the law shall be but
merely prescribes details for the enforcement of the law.