The codification of administrative law is an extremely interesting work that compares a phenomenon, the codification of administrative law, in various legal systems.
Already, the methodology used was original: based on a questionnaire, all contributors were invited to present their national legal system at a first meeting in January 2020. Then, because of the health crisis, the meetings were made remotely; above all, the contributors deepened their research and transmitted their results. Then, they were able to review their articles considering cross-references with others. For instance, in my Chapter on French administrative law, I made cross-references to Swedish law as both French and Swedish administrative laws have a wide scope and to German and EU law as administrative liability is also a “no go” area for those two systems as it is for French administrative law.
In addition, the legal systems compared are very different:
- some are European (such as the EU system, at pp. 353-378 of the book),
- some are not (such as the Australian system, at pp. 3-38, the American system, at pp. 323-352 or the Canadian system, click here for a summary),
- some belong to the common law tradition (such as the English system, at pp. 295-322),
- others to that of continental law (such as the German system, at pp. 147-170, the Norwegian system, at pp. 215-240, the Swiss system, at pp. 271-294, the Dutch system, click here for a summary, the Italian system, click here for a summary, the Austrian system, click here for a summary, or the Swedish system, click here for a summary).
Some have a well-identified area of general administrative law, others less. Some have sophisticated codification, and some very little (such as the Belgian administrative system, click here for a summary).
This is what makes the comparison of the phenomenon of codification of administrative law instructive.
Moreover, the most interesting chapter is undoubtedly the one which makes, in the end, this comparison (F. UHLMANN, p. 379-411). This chapter draws lines of force and breakpoints between the different legal systems, according to the reading grid adopted by all the contributions. The very definition of administrative law is the subject of diversified assessments, as is the codification technique. A common objective of simplification and accessibility is then emerging thanks to the phenomenon of codification, although there are flaws, such as ossification or the fact that what is usually codified remains procedural and not substantial.
In conclusion, The codification of administrative law is an in-depth scientific work, with an impressive index: it is particularly explanatory.
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Posted by Delphine COSTA, Full Professor of Public Law Aix-Marseille Université (FRANCE), author of the Chapter “Codification of Administrative Law – A French Oxymoron” in the commented book, pp. 127-146.
