Relationship between Constitutional Law and A...

Relationship between Constitutional Law and Administrative Law

Author Name : Nitin Sansanwal

INTRODUCTION

The constitutional law describes the various organs of government at rest, while administrative law describes them in motion.

-Holland

Constitutional law and administrative law are both important legislations that govern the various affairs of the State. To early English jurists there was virtually no difference between administrative law and constitutional law. According to Keith, “it’s logically impossible to distinguish administrative from constitutional law and all attempts to do so are artificial.” Some jurists like Felix Frankfurter went a step ahead to call this exercise illegitimate and exotic[1].

The root of all confusion in the United Kingdom is its lack of a written constitution. In a state with a written constitution, the source of constitutional law is the Constitution while the sources of administrative law include statutes, statutory instruments, precedents and customs whereas in the United Kingdom, this distinction is not very clear cut – it is in fact, quite blurred.