Administrative Law

 
As the head of a governmental agency, you have decided that it is important that staff understand basic administrative law concepts in order to avoid major errors in decision making. This is especially important given the number of times the agency has been taken to court recently regarding administrative law issues.

Specifically, you will address the following questions:

What is discretion? Include in your answer a discussion of how courts assess discretionary decisions.

What is credibility? Include in your answer how to assess credibility.

What is bias? Include in your answer how bias is determined.

What is the extent of the duty to give reasons?

In order to assist the staff, you will refer to the relevant cases.

Your introductory section should include a discussion of procedural fairness and how administrative law principles are relevant to democratic practice.