Ladies and Gentlemen, Administrative discretion refers to the power of administrative officials to make decisions based upon their judgment of what is the best course of action in a particular case. Discretion is the liberty or power a person has to decide or act according to his or her own judgement. Discretionary authority is necessary in government because not all actions can be decided based upon general rules. Government officials must therefore have some flexibility in deciding how or when a rule ought to be applied. There is some tension between the ideal of the rule of law and the granting of discretionary powers to government officials. The rule of law means that all government authority is derived from and limited by law. Discretionary authority, however, grants power to an official to decide on a course of action based upon his or her view of what is best in the situation. It is for this reason that discretionary authority is normally limited by law and open to review by the courts. A government official may be empowered by legislation to exercise discretion within particular circumstances, but the decisions must still be impartial and reasonable. There are always legal limits to the freedom given administrative officials to make discretionary decisions. The discretion given to government officials to implement policies decided upon by elected officials is one of the gray areas in which the distinction between politics and administration is blurred. While we normally think of politics as the area in which policy is determined, how the policy is subsequently implemented can have important political implications. While a policy may set out rules that govern how an administrative agency is to proceed, the interpretation of those rules is often left to the agency. Moreover, the power to make and enforce regulations is often delegated to administrative agencies. The statute granting such power may be of such general language that the government agency in question is then allowed to exercise substantial discretion in the formulation and application of the regulations. In recent years, this issue has been most pressing in the areas of environmental regulation and policing. The essential problem posed by administrative discretion is to find the proper balance between giving nonelected governmental officials too much power to make public policy, and restricting the discretionary power of such officials to the point where they lack the flexibility necessary to make decisions appropriate to specific circumstances. Respectfully submitted for due consideration, Serdar TUNCLUER,Ph.D. Istanbul, 11:07AM
Posted on: Tue, 22 Jul 2014 08:07:24 +0000
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