The Emergence of Global Administrative Law and Transnational Regulation

Abstract

Discussion of the emergence of global administrative law is centred around the question ‘Is it law?' and problems of accountability. This is a narrow perspective which ignores the autonomy of administrative ‘internal law’ generated by administrative agencies themselves. The extent to which domestic administrative law is a product of courts or legislators is much less significant than has hitherto been taken for granted. For global administrative law the entanglement of administrative practice and normativity is crucial. The creation of administrative law through an experimental network of decisions and public-private cooperation, and as a consequence its ongoing self-transformation, should be considered a necessity. This is why it should not come as a surprise that the instruments and forms of global administrative law are generated by transnational administrative networks of agencies. The evolution of both domestic and transnational administrative law will allow for new heterarchical forms of accountability and legitimation once the focus on a hierarchical concept of delegation is given up. For both domestic and global administrative law the adoption of new approaches to ex post monitoring of administrative action and learning seems to be more promising than the traditional focus on the binding force of legal rules ex ante.