Exclusion of the rules of natural justice

Abstract

Natural justice is a common law doctrine that provides important procedural rights in administrative decision-making. The doctrine now has a wide application and is presumed by the courts to apply to the exercise of virtually all statutory powers. But the courts have also accepted that natural justice can be excluded by legislation that is expressed in sufficiently clear terms. This article explains how the courts have made it increasingly difficult for parliaments to exclude natural justice and the principles that apply to its legislative exclusion. It is argued that the interpretive principles applied to legislation which purports to exclude natural justice are so strict that it is very difficult for parliaments to succeed in any attempt to exclude the doctrine.