Pages 6-9 Flashcards
(19 cards)
Quasi-judicial or Adjudicatory Power
Actions or discretion of public administrative officers or bodies that are required to investigate facts, or ascertain the existence of facts, hold hearings, and draw conclusions from them, as a basis for their official action and to exercise discretion of a judicial nature.27 Where power rests in judgment or discretion, so that it is of judicial nature or character, but does not involve the exercise of functions of a judge, or is conferred upon an officer other than a judicial officer, it is deemed quasi-judicial.
Requisites of Administrative Due Process
- Right to a hearing
- Tribunal must consider evidence presented
- Decision must have something to support itself
- Evidence must be substantial
- Decision must be based on the evidence adduced at the hearing, or at least contained in the record and disclosed to the parties
- The Board or its judges must act on its or their independent consideration of the facts and the law of the case, and not simply accept the views of a subordinate in arriving at a decision
- Decision must be rendered in such a manner that the parties to the controversy can know the various issues involved and the reasons for the decision rendered
Requisites of procedural due process
- the right to actual or constructive notice of the institution of proceedings which may affect a respondent’s legal rights
- a real opportunity to be heard personally or with the assistance of counsel, to present witnesses and evidence in one’s favor, and to defend one’s rights
- a tribunal vested with competent jurisdiction and so constituted as to afford a person charged administratively a reasonable guarantee of honesty as well as impartiality
- a finding by said tribunal which is supported by substantial evidence submitted for consideration during the hearing or contained in the records or made known to the parties affected
res judicata
a matter that has been adjudicated by a competent court and may not be pursued further by the same parties
Elements of res judicata
a) The former judgment or order must be final
b) It must be a judgment or order on the merits, that is, it was rendered after a consideration of the evidence or stipulations submitted by the parties at the trial of the case
c) It must have been rendered by a court having jurisdiction over the subject matter and the parties
d) There must be, between the first and second actions, identity of parties, of subject matter and of cause of action. This requisite is satisfied if the two (2) actions are substantially between the same parties.
Litis pendentia
refers to a situation where two actions are pending between the same parties for the same cause of action, so that one of them becomes unnecessary and vexatious
Requisites of litis pendentia
(1) identity of parties, or at least such parties as those representing the same interests in both actions
(2) identity of rights asserted and reliefs prayed for, the reliefs being founded on the same facts
(3) identity with respect to the two preceding particulars in the two cases, such that any judgment that may be rendered in the pending case, regardless of which party is successful, would amount to res judicata in the other case
quasi-judicial proceeding in administrative law
a. taking and evaluating evidence
b. determining facts based upon the evidence presented
c. rendering an order or decision supported by the facts proved
The exercise of quasi-judicial functions involves a determination, with respect to the matter in controversy, of what the law is; what the legal rights and obligations of the contending parties are; and based thereon and the facts obtaining, the adjudication of the respective rights and obligations of the parties.
Quasi-Judicial or Adjudicatory Powers distinguished from Quasi-Legislative or Investigate Powers
(1) Definition
QJ: Actions or discretion of public administrative officers or bodies that are required to investigate facts, or ascertain the existence of facts, hold hearings, and draw conclusions from them, as a basis for their official action and to exercise discretion of a judicial nature.27 Where power rests in judgment or discretion, so that it is of judicial nature or character, but does not involve the exercise of functions of a judge, or is conferred upon an officer other than a judicial officer, it is deemed quasi-judicial
QL: exercise of delegated legislative power, involving no discretion as to what the law shall be, but merely the authority to fix the details in the execution or enforcement of a policy set out in the law itself
- power to make rules and regulations which results in delegated legislation that is within the confines of the granting statute and the doctrine of non-delegability and separation of powers
(2) Extent
QJ: administrative decisions do not form part of the legal system; res judicata
QL: exercised only for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of the law into effect. Administrative regulations cannot extend the law or amend it. Administrative regulations must be in harmony with the provisions of the law
(3) Requisities for Validity QJ: QL: 1. issued under authority of the law 2. within the scope and purview of the law
QL: No notice required
Kinds of Administrative Rules & Regulations
- Supplementary or detailed legislation
- Interpretative Legislation
- Contingent Legislation - they are rules and regulations made by an administrative authority on the existence of certain facts or things upon which the
enforcement of the law depends.
Quasi-Judicial v. Quasi-Legislative
Quasi-Legislative Power – the authority delegated by the law-making body to the administrative body to adopt rules and regulations intended to carry out the provisions of a law and implement legislative policy.
Quasi-Judicial Power – the power of the administrative authorities to make determinations of facts in the performance of their official duties and to apply the law as they construe it to the facts so found.
Doctrine of separation of powers in administrative cases
There is an underlying power in the Courts to scrutinize the acts of administrative agencies on questions of law and jurisdiction although no right of review is given by statute. This is designed to keep the administrative agency within its jurisdiction and to protect substantial rights of parties affected by
its decisions. It is part of the system of checks and balances which restricts the
separation of powers and forestalls arbitrary and unjust adjudication.
The decision of a Voluntary Arbitrator, although generally accorded finality, may still be subject to judicial review if there was a violation of due process.
Judicial Review
The power of the courts to test the validity of executive and legislative acts in light of their conformity with the Constitution.
Courts should as much as possible refrain from disturbing the findings of administrative bodies in deference to the doctrine of separation of powers. T or F.
True.
By the term administrative authorities, as used here, is meant all those public officers and organs (i.e., administrative agencies) of the government
that are charged with the amplification, application and execution of the law, but do not include, by virtue of the doctrine of separation of powers, Congress and the regular courts. T or F.
True.
Doctrine of separation of powers
It is the duty of the Legislature to make the law; of
the Executive to execute the law; and of the Judiciary to construe the law; the Legislature has no authority to execute or construe the law, the Executive has no authority to make or construe the law and the Judiciary
has no power to make or execute the law.
On which maxim is the doctrine of separation of powers based on?
potestas delegata non potest delegari
What has been delegated cannot in turn be delegated.
The doctrine rests on the ethical principle that a delegated power constitutes not only a right but a duty to be performed by the delegate by the instrumentality of his own judgment acting immediately upon the matter and not through the intervening mind of another. A further delegation of such power would indeed constitute a negation of the duty in violation of the trust reposed in the delegate mandated to discharge it directly.
Doctrine of non-delegation not absolute
- Delegation to administrative agencies
- Need for the delegation
a. Details and questions beyond capacity of legislature to determine
b. Matters requiring more specialized knowledge and expertise possessed by administrative agencies - Requisites for delegation
a. the completeness of the statute making the delegation
b. presence of a sufficient standard
Exceptions to the Doctrine of Exhaustion
- When the question raised is purely legal
- When the administrative body is in estoppel
- When the act complained of is patently illegal
- When there is urgent need for judicial intervention
- When the claim involved is small
- When irreparable damage will be suffered
- When there is no other plain, speedy and adequate remedy
- When strong public interest is involved
- When the subject of the controversy is private land
- In quo warranto proceedings
