We explain what an administrative act is, its types, elements and examples. Also, in which cases they are null and what are their effects.
What is the Administrative Act?
It is normally understood as an administrative act to any manifestation or declaration of the public powers of a State endowed with administrative powers, to impose their will on the rights, freedoms or interests of other public or private subjects who live in the nation.
In other words, it is legal acts, in which a State agency expresses its will unilaterally, externally and specifically, to decide on a specific matter.
Public powers can be imposed in a specific matter through administrative acts, as long as these take place within the stipulations of the legal system, that is, that they occur in accordance with what is established by the Constitution. Hence, administrative acts may vary from country to country and from legislation to legislation.
See also: Powers of the State
Types of administrative acts
Administrative acts are classified, according to the segmentation carried out by Gabino Fraga, according to the following criteria:
- According to its nature Taking into account the will of the person who carries out the administrative act, we can speak of legal acts (if it modifies the law or causes an effect on what it regulates) or material or execution acts (if it executes non-legal powers of the public administration).
- According to the wills that allow it Taking into account the responsible organizations, we can talk about unilateral acts (if they only concern the institution that issues them), or plurilateral acts (if they express the will of two or more public organizations).
- According to the relationship between will and law Taking into account the way in which they relate to the law, administrative acts can be mandatory either linked (what is imposed by law must be followed without room for individual decisions), or they can be discretionary (a certain margin of decision is allowed to the affected person).
- According to the area of their action Taking this criterion into account we can distinguish between administrative acts internal (they regulate the internal functioning of the law in an administration) and external administrative acts (they include the way in which the State orders and controls internal acts).
- According to its purpose Depending on the reason for which they are carried out, we can talk about preliminary administrative acts (they allow or facilitate the actions of the public administration), administrative decision acts (unilateral declarations of will where the modification of a subjective and specific legal situation is recorded), or administrative acts of execution (those that require compliance with the resolutions taken).
- According to who it is intended for Taking into account who the administrative act falls on, we can distinguish between those of a general nature (when their recipients are not determined) and those of unique character (addressed to a specific recipient).
Elements of the administrative act
Every administrative act is made up of a series of elements that distinguish them from others, and which are:
- Subject The specific body that formulates the declaration of will on behalf of the State, as long as this is within its powers as established in the Constitution.
- Competence The amount of power that an entity possesses within the concert of public powers, and that authorizes it to carry out an administrative act, or not.
- Willpower The objective or subjective intention with which the administrative act is carried out.
- Object That on which the administrative act falls, and which must be physically true and legally possible.
- Reason The reason for the legal act.
- Merit The degree of adequacy of the administrative act with respect to the principle of proportionality of means and ends.
- Shape The materialization itself of the administrative act, that is, the external formation of the act.
Examples of administrative acts
The following may be examples of administrative acts:
- Grant or deny retirements to natural persons.
- Designate for public offices to employees or applicants.
- Grant concessions for marketing (import or export).
- Grant licenses or tax exemptions.
Nullity of an administrative act
There is talk of nullity in matters of the administrative act when this occurs without sufficient legal guarantees to legitimize it or when it contradicts what is established in the legal system.
In these cases, a State agency may declare its nullity, express or tacit, and may cancel its effects from now on (irretroactive nullity) or reverse its effects until the day of its celebration (retroactive nullity). On the other hand, nullity can be declared totally or partially depending on the original vice to which its existence has given rise.
Effects of an administrative act
The specific effects of administrative acts depend in principle on what is established in the legal order and what the act itself contemplates.
Thus, administrative acts produce legal effects, which can range from granting or revoking rights, to reversing decisions of other organizations demand compliance with a behavior, etc. These effects are usually immediate and the State will be in charge of ensuring compliance.
Administrative fact and administrative act
The differences between an administrative fact and an administrative act are not always evident. In principle, an administrative act is a declaration of will of the public administration. They create and extinguish rights, modify the legal order in the matter, and produce legal effects. For example, awarding a tender to a private company to build a bridge.
On the contrary, An administrative event is a legal event that takes place without the will of the administration although they do produce legal effects with respect to it. A legal fact is, as is known, something that occurs but has an impact on the legal reality of its jurisdiction.
Legal events take place outside the administration, although they also have legal consequences. For example, the construction of the bridge itself scheduled by the company.
Continue with: Legal regulations
References:
- “Administrative act” in Wikipedia.
- “Administrative act” in LAWi, Online Legal Encyclopedia (Argentina).
- “Administrative act” in Legal Encyclopedia.
- “Administrative act and procedure” by Fernández Ruiz, Jorge, in the Legal Files from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).
- “Administrative Acts” in Encyclopedia.com.
- “Administrative Law” in The Encyclopaedia Britannica.
