‘In a recently completed paper, Philip Murray and I develop a defence of what we term the classical account of administrative law. The question with which we are centrally concerned is whether (as the classical account holds) unlawful administrative acts are void ab initio, such that they can be treated without more as if they had never been committed, or merely voidable, meaning that they are valid and effective unless and until set aside by a competent court. While that question might seem highly technical — and, in one sense, it is — it is also a question that goes to the doctrinal and conceptual heart of administrative law, and which has profound practical and constitutional implications. The idea that unlawful acts should be treated as merely voidable — or that courts should be able to decide whether they are void or voidable — may be superficially attractive because it appears to replace conceptual rigidity with remedial flexibility. But in the article, we argue that the flip side of that coin is one that must not be ignored, and that abandoning the classical account is ultimately incompatible with upholding the rule of law.’
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Public Law for Everyone, 16th September 2025
Source: publiclawforeveryone.com
