International Administrative Law Research Articles

The administrative law of the Czech Republic and the public law of Ukraine: a study in international administrative law

The military actions taking place in Ukraine brought a major influx of refugees to the Czech Republic. A majority of them, being either citizens or residents of Ukraine, were carrying various official documents (such as residence permits, driving licences, university diplomas etc), issued by the competent authorities of their state of origin. The massive circulation of these persons in the Czech Republic automatically implied a necessity to deal with the implications of such documents, or with their absence (such as in the case of students, not carrying any educational certifications). This article deals with how the administrative law of the Czech Republic addressed the fact that various documents, issued by the authorities of Ukraine are being used for various purposes in the Czech Republic. Taking into consideration that one may expect further influx of Ukrainian citizens to our territory and their residence in the Czech Republic, this article also aims to outline a way forward.

A Few Thoughts about the Concepts of International Administrative Tribunals and International Administrative Law

AbstractThis note tries to determine the most appropriate way to position international administrative tribunals (established by a number of inter-governmental organizations) in the public international legal order, and identify the substance of the so-called international administrative law applied therein. There is an emerging group of laws arising from numerous international administrative tribunal decisions that form a substantive body of legal rules applicable therein: a law of international civil service. Judges in those tribunals, who look for an appropriate source whenever they face a non-liquet situation, use the concept of international administrative law to overcome such difficulties. Judges should not hide themselves behind an ambiguous notion of international administrative law or general principles, but apply the law of international civil service with confidence.

Transnational Justice: Unveiling the Dynamics of International Administrative Tribunals and Administrative Law

This research article explores the realm of international administrative law, focusing on the pivotal role of international administrative tribunals in adjudicating disputes and ensuring accountability across transnational contexts. Beginning with a post-World War II historical overview, it underscores the tribunals' significance in safeguarding individuals' rights within international organisations. Through an examination of the evolution of international administrative law, including the proliferation of specialised tribunals and refinement of norms, it navigates the tension between autonomy and accountability. Drawing on legal scholarship and practical considerations, it addresses challenges such as defining administrative authority and diverse adjudication approaches. The exploration of the Law of International Civil Service is central to the discussion, providing a framework for understanding applicable legal norms. This research contributes to a clearer understanding and effective implementation of international administrative law in contemporary global governance, offering insights crucial for legal scholars, practitioners, and policymakers.

Fight against cybercrime

Cybercrime problems are gaining relevance every year. The spread of home computer equipment in Russia began in the 90s. XX century At that time, only a small part of the population had personal computers, electronic payment systems had just appeared, and the word «hacker» was more familiar from science fiction literature than from real collisions with the consequences of the activities of such persons. Currently, the situation has changed dramatically. «Combating cybercrime» is an interdisciplinary discipline that includes certain elements of such sciences as criminal law, criminology, forensics, public and private international law, criminal procedure, administrative law, and civil law. The multicomponent content of the discipline is due to the complexity and multidimensionality of the studied object. This article examines the concept of cybercrime, the reasons for its occurrence, as well as the types of cybercrime using information technology.

In Search of Coherence: Burden and Standard of Proof in International Administrative Law

Abstract The authors explore the rules governing the burden and standard of proof in international administrative law, both from a general perspective and in specific contexts such as termination for misconduct, harassment, retaliation, performance and promotions, and service-incurred illnesses. They compare the rules applied by various international administrative tribunals with those applied by courts in domestic jurisdictions. They conclude that some international organizations should review their rules in the interest of coherence, and revert back to a contextualized application of the usual civil standard of proof instead of applying different standards depending on the circumstances.

Acquired Rights in International Administrative Law

The acquired rights doctrine limits the ability of an international organisation (io) to unilaterally amend a staff member’s conditions of employment to his or her detriment. The leading international administrative tribunals, especially the Administrative Tribunal of the International Labour Organisation or the ILOAT refined and developed the doctrine’s meaning and scope over decades. There has been a general consensus that the acquired rights doctrine protects a staff member’s essential terms of employment both retrospectively and prospectively. However, in its recent jurisprudence, the United Nations Appeals Tribunal or the UNAT has rendered the acquired rights doctrine with little work to do by reducing it to the principle of non- retroactivity. As a result, the consensus as to the doctrine’s core meaning is now undermined. International civil servants having access to the ILOAT are much better protected from unilateral adverse amendments to their conditions of employment when compared to those international public officials whose organisations have subscribed to the jurisdiction of the UNAT. This is an unwelcome development for the content of substantive protections is now more dependent on the tribunal approach, as opposed to a coherent development of the law.

Международное административное право

The modern paradigm of the development of national administrative legislation in Russia is the paradigm of globalization. Globalization is a process of erasing not only economic barriers between national economies, but also the boundaries of national jurisdictions. The constantly dynamically increasing array of international legal regulators in the management of the processes of state activity makes it necessary to systematize of international legal regulators, thereby forming in its generalizing totality international administrative law.

Acquired Rights in International Administrative Law

Until recently, there has been a basic consensus on the understanding of the acquired rights doctrine which is said to constitute a supreme general principle of international civil service law, also known as international administrative law. In this paper, I show that this consensus painstakingly developed over decades by international administrative tribunals has now been broken. I chart the history of the doctrine showing how it was initially received to perform a protective function given the considerably weaker position of the employee vis-a-vis the employer organization. Primarily through the jurisprudence of the Administrative Tribunal of the International Labor Organization (‘ILOAT’), the doctrine’s conventional understanding in international administrative law was then developed and refined over several decades. However, in its recent jurisprudence, the United Nations Appeals Tribunal has rendered the acquired rights doctrine with little work to do by collapsing it to the principle of non-retroactivity. The consensus as to the doctrine’s meaning is now undermined. This is an unwelcome development.

The Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms in the System of Sources of Legal Regulation of the Administration of Justice in Administrative Offences

The paper presents the author’s view of the problem of interaction between international and national administrative law and attempts to determine the place of the Convention on the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms in the Russian legal system and the administrative and tort legislation of the country. Based on the analysis of different points of view, the conclusion is enunciated that international treaties ratified by the Russian Federation are incorporated into the general body of administrative legislation; and they constitute a source of administrative law in the part in which they contain legal provisions governing the administrative and legal status of citizens, as well as guarantees of its implementation, including guarantees of equitable justice in cases arising from public law relations and administrative and tort cases. In this regards, the author analyzes the provisions of Article 1.1 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation, determining the place and role of universally recognized principles and norms of international law and international treaties of the Russian Federation in the system of sources of administrative and tort law—the author refers the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms to the sources mentioned above. The paper considers this Convention as an international treaty of the Russian Federation that not only regulates interstate relations, but also actively invades the regulation of procedural administrative responsibility, since it establishes the general parameters of a fair trial in administrative and tort cases. The paper also pays attention to the implementation in the draft Code of Administrative Offences of the Russian Federation and the Procedural Code of the Russian Federation on Administrative Offences of the Constitutional Principle concerning international legal norms in the legal system of the Russian Federation.

Global Administrative Law

This chapter focuses on Global Administrative Law (GAL) and its approach, i.e. that global governance may be productively explained through the lens of administrative law (and domestic public law more generally), which however are not alternative to those of international law and other disciplines, but must be used in conjunction with them. Like domestic administrative law, the term GAL can refer to either a scholarly approach or methodology that academics (and others) may use to analyse various forms of global governance, or to a set of actual norms, ‘practices’, or activities or mechanisms that states, IOs and others, including private bodies, use in various forms of global governance. Such twofold dimension, as this Chapter shows, may produce some ambiguities, even in relation to GAL’s role in the putative crisis of international law. Section 1 deals with the genesis and meaning of GAL. Section 2 illustrates the relationships between GAL and its three branches of law, which are international law, international administrative law (or international institutional law), and domestic public and administrative law. Section 3 identifies GAL distinctive features. Section 4 contextualizes GAL within global regulatory regimes under four main dimensions: regulatory, (quasi-)judicial, institutional, and procedural. Section 5 deals with GAL facing the up and down of (legal) globalization, and it focuses specifically on two main problems which mark the relationships between global regulatory regimes, international law and domestic legal orders: the quest for legitimacy and accountability beyond the (democratic) state, on the one side, and the public and private distinction at international level, on the one other. Lastly, section 6 investigates the future of GAL and its scholarship, portraying its limits and opportunities.

Revisiting international administrative law as a legal discipline

The term “international administrative law” is understood in two separate ways. On one hand, the authors (diritto internazionale amministrativo) used this term regarding the administrative competencies of various international administrative unions, as provided by applicable international conventions. On the other hand, other authors (e.g. Karl Neumeyer, Paul Négulescu, Giuseppe Biscottini) used the term to exclusively refer to the norms of national law (diritto amministrativo internazionale, droit administratif international, internationales Verwaltungsrecht), which address certain foreign elements. This article follows the second understanding of the term “international administrative law.” For a long time, these norms had been quite rare in administrative law and, consequently, the legal scholarship did not pay much attention to the discipline of international administrative law. However, most recently, the sources of EU law increasingly require reflection of certain foreign elements in the norms of administrative law. In this respect, this article argues that international administrative law represents a legal discipline that is fully capable of addressing those problems arising by the application of these norms in administrative law.

Genesis of International Administrative Law

Genesis of International Administrative Law

Administracinio teismo įstatymo projektai tarpukario Lietuvoje

[only abstract and summary in English; full article and abstract in Lithuanian] The very first law under which Lithuanian administrative courts were established was adopted in 1999. However, the predecessors of the Administrative Court (the Commission of Legal Ministerial Advisors, Complaints and Remanding Commission of the Seimas, State Council) were created in the third decade of the 20th century. Notwithstanding this, these authorities could not match the judicial review of public administrators’ activity. Consequently, the first draft laws on the Administrative Court were drafted in the fourth decade. There were over ten of such drafts but only two remained. The goal of the article is to reveal the content and the background of draft laws on the Administrative Court developed in 1932 and 1940, which were found in the Wroblewski Library Manuscript Division. Summary The predecessors of the administrative court were created in the third decade of the 20th century in Lithuania. Notwithstanding, these authorities could not match the judicial review of public administrators’ activity. It is noteworthy that sometimes the Senior Tribunal performed the functions of the administrative court and reviewed the legality of administrative acts. However, some laws did not provide the possibility to challenge administrative acts in the courts. That was the main reason to create Law on the Administrative Court of the Republic of Lithuania. There were a number of attempts to establish judicial review in Lithuania in various laws: in Constitutions, State Council Statute, Law on the Judicial System. Around 10 draft laws on the Administrative Court were prepared by the State Council and the Seimas Commission. However, these attempts were unsuccessful. The first draft law on the Administrative Court was drafted in 1932 by the State Council. The main proposals of this document were: first, the Administrative Court is an Administrative Division of the Supreme Court of Lithuania; second, the Administrative Court disposes general jurisdiction of judicial review of individual or regulatory administrative acts due to the violation of subjective rights of natural or legal person; third, the Administrative Court is the only judicial instance and before bringing an action into court, a plaintiff must go through all lower review processes. The draft law created in 1940 by the Seimas Commission was almost the same but more detailed in the provisions of administrative process, what is more, the Administrative Court was proposed to be a separate judicial body. The main initiators of the Law on the Administrative Court were two lawyers: member of the State Council, judge of the Senior Tribunal, ad hoc judge of the Permanent Court of International Justice, constitutional and administrative law scholar M. Romeris and Memel Territory Governor, Meyer of Kaunas, member of the Seimas and last Prime Minister A. Merkys.

An International Administrative Procedural Law of Fair Trial: Reality or Rhetoric?

Highlighting that the right to a fair trial in international law now forms an aspect of international administrative procedural law, I argue when international administrative tribunals administer justice to international civil servants, fair trial guarantees must be accorded. Particularly, in this paper I assess the two leading international administrative tribunals, the United Nations Dispute Tribunal and the Administrative Tribunal of the International Labour Organisation, in terms of their compliance with fair trial standards. Focusing on the jurisprudence of the International Court of Justice, I first show how what I call an international procedural law of fair trial has been developed and requires that basic due process guarantees must be accorded wen delivering international administrative justice. I then develop fair trial standards with greater nuance, especially focusing on the quality of independence and impartiality. Then, the paper engages in a detailed analysis of the leading international administrative tribunals in terms of compliance with fair trial standards, concluding that significant deficits exist. If a fair trial for international civil servants is to be guaranteed, significant structural reforms are necessary.

International Administrative Law: the constitution of a concept in the mirror of a changed Statehood

Characteristic legal concepts do not only have an ordering function. Behind them, there are conceptions, which at the same time show observation relationships and define research perspectives. This paper seeks to demonstrate these roles in relation to the concept of international administrative Law (Internationalen Verwaltungsrechts), which is discussed here with three variants for the purpose of scientific clarification, once it is relevant to demonstrate the structures that underlie legal concepts and the preconceptions they carry. The conceptual variations analyzed are: international administrative Law as Collision Law (Internationales Verwaltungs­recht als Kollisionsrecht), as global administrative Law and as Action, Determination and Cooperation Law based on international law (im Völkerrecht begründetes Aktions-, Determinations- und Kooperationsrecht)

Procedural Fairness as a Precondition for Immunity of International Organizations

This article analyses the notion and role of fairness in the procedural rules and practice of international administrative tribunals. After reviewing decisions of international administrative tribunals dealing with the notion of fairness, it shows that tribunals rely on the concept of fairness to limit discretion of decision-makers, to fill gaps in law and to override written law to ensure fairness. The article makes suggestions as to how to reconcile the different visions and roles of fairness in international administrative law. It argues that with the further development of international administrative law, tribunals should as much as possible rely on rules and principles formulated by external bodies rather than on their personal understanding of fairness.

An alternative mode of international order: The international administrative union in the nineteenth century

AbstractA novel form of international order was developed in the nineteenth century by international administrative unions such as the International Telegraph Union and the Universal Postal Union. This administrative internationalism posed a striking alternative to the international society of great powers, sovereignty, and forms of imperial domination, for the members of administrative unions included not only sovereign states but also semi-sovereigns, vassals, and colonies. Members were equal and bound identically to the union treaty and its international administrative law. This article examines the structure of unions and their politics of membership in the nineteenth century, and engages theories of global governance to argue that early administrative unions present a mode of international order different from theories of both global networks and the international system of neorealism.

Japan and the Universal Postal Union: An Alternative Internationalism in the 19th Century

Japan joined the Universal Postal Union (UPU) in 1877, both to force Britain to close its post offices in Japan and to participate in the novel form of internationalism developed in the 19th century by international administrative unions such as the UPU. In addition to recounting the diplomatic negotiations surrounding the internationalization of Japan’s post, this article examines the politics of UPU membership in order to understand the commitments that UPU membership imposed upon Japan. In fact, the administrative internationalism of the UPU appealed to Japan because the union’s members were equal and all bound identically to the union treaty and its international administrative law. This internationalism was a welcome alternative to the internationalism of the treaty regime, whose great powers and forms of domination had forced Japan into the international arena.

The Evolution of Transnational Environmental Law: Four Cases in Historical Perspective

AbstractThis essay places transnational environmental law in an epistemological context. Starting from the general concept of ‘transnational law’ and the specific environmental dimension of ‘international administrative law’, four case histories are presented to illustrate the integrant approach of transnational environmental law. The cases – all arising in the1970s – deal with transboundary problems of aircraft noise, ocean dumping, river pollution, and marine protected areas. In addition to traditional aspects of public international law in the environmental field, they typically interface with questions of administrative law, private international law, criminal law, and human rights law. The essay advocates a new focus on mechanisms for participation by civil society in the operation and implementation of transnational environmental law.

The World Bank Administrative Tribunal’s External Sources of Law: The Next Chapter (2006–2010) (Part II)

Abstract The World Bank Administrative Tribunal has begun its second quarter-century with a jurisprudential flowering of extraordinary proportions. Mr. Hansen’s study, which builds on his earlier 25-year retrospective, comprehensively surveys the Tribunal’s numerous doctrinal developments during this time. In this article, which is part two of two, Mr. Hansen revisits two of the four subjects explored in his retrospective: (i) the role of general legal principles as a source of Tribunal law, particularly with respect to the Tribunal’s recent and extensive due process jurisprudence; and (ii) the role of external case law as a source of Tribunal law, including decisions from international courts, international administrative tribunals, international arbitral tribunals and national courts. Extensively footnoted, Mr. Hansen’s study is intended for both academics and practitioners specializing in international administrative law and comparative international jurisprudence.