The rule of law and the separation of powers thesis are the twin pillars upon which any fair and democratic society must be constructed”. This ideology encapsulates four main principles which are assumed fundamental to the course of administrative proceedings. First, it should be noted that any administrative act that will result in affecting the legal rights, interests or legitimate expectations of an individual must have legal validation, second, everyone and anyone is subject to the law, including those who hold government titles, third, it can be said that the legality of an administrative act must be determined by judges who are independent of the government and lastly, the law should always be both easily anticipated and straightforwardly …show more content…
They offer to make plain procedural safeguards. Safeguards, which have been advanced over time by the judiciary in order to guarantee decision makers continue to act within the scope of the basic standards of fairness. By legal standards, the principle of ‘natural justice’ is identified and is subsequently afforded constitutional protection. This then develops into a constitutional right. Again, the denouement of this protection is to insure the practice and adherence to a basic standard of procedural fairness where a person’s rights, interest or legitimate interests are affected. This can be exemplified by the Australian decision in Kioa v. West. It is a collected opinion that the decision formulated here can be said to have permeated through neighbouring judiciary jurisdictions, namely Ireland, England and New Zealand. Mr. Kioa argued here that he was not afforded the right to respond to the arguments set against him. Here Mason J stated …show more content…
Constitutional justice also expands on these rules. The matters surrounding the rule against bias are the first issues I intend to address. The rule against bias principally contains that bias or indeed, an operative prejudice can be found to be either conscious or unconscious when concerning a specific and relevant person or topic. It encapsulates the two notions that A) no one should act as a judge in his own case and B) justice should not only be served, but it must be served both clearly and indubitably. The judge should be both neutral and unaligned in when hearing the case before him, a view which can also be said for practitioners employing adjudicatory powers. The courts will assess the circumstances surrounding the case and evaluate whether there was a reasonable belief that the determining factor of a case may have been of a biased and prejudiced nature. There must be a genuine prospect of bias and in determining this a subjective approach is adopted meaning there must be a reasonable amount of apprehension as to the presence of bias or the clear and unencumbered presence of bias. In Wellwoman Centre LTD v. Ireland it was pronounced by the Supreme Court that the moment a discernment of bias is detected, provided that it is also of reasonable justification, constitutional justice will not allow for the hearing to