Introduction battling in the courts: Dynamics of administrative litigation systems across jurisdictions

Abstract

Administrative litigation commonly refers to lawsuits filed by individuals and/or companies against decisions of governments and governmental officials who allegedly infringe the rights and interests of the individuals and/or companies involved. In the common law system, the term judicial review is used instead; this generally refers to the review of governmental actions by the judiciary. Despite the differences between administrative litigation and judicial review, these two terms will be used interchangeably hereinafter. As one of the three pillars of the modern litigation system (composed of civil, criminal and administrative litigation systems), the administrative litigation system (ALS) shares the function of resolving disputes with civil litigation, and protecting the members of society, that is akin to the criminal system; however, it also distinguishes itself from the other two due to its unique litigant structure and its inherent constitutional concern, which is to supervise one kind of State power (administrative power) by exercising another kind of State power (judicial power).