Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Foreword
- Preface
- About the contributors
- Table of cases
- Table of statutes
- 1 Australian administrative law: The constitutional and legal matrix
- 2 Administrative law in Australia: Themes and values
- 3 The public/private distinction in Australian administrative law
- 4 Australian administrative law: The human rights dimension
- 5 Administrative tribunals
- 6 Australian Ombudsman: A continual work in progress
- 7 Freedom of information
- 8 Delegated legislation
- 9 The concept of ‘justiciability’ in administrative law
- 10 Standing
- 11 Reasons for administrative decisions: Legal framework and reform
- 12 Relevant and irrelevant considerations
- 13 Improper purpose
- 14 Reasonableness, rationality and proportionality
- 15 The ‘no evidence’ rule
- 16 Failure to exercise discretion or perform duties
- 17 Procedural fairness: The hearing rule
- 18 The doctrine of substantive unfairness and the review of substantive legitimate expectations
- 19 The impact and significance of Teoh and Lam
- 20 The rule against bias
- 21 Jurisdictional error without the tears
- 22 Privative clauses and the limits of the law
- 23 Administrative law judicial remedies
- Endnotes
- Index
13 - Improper purpose
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Foreword
- Preface
- About the contributors
- Table of cases
- Table of statutes
- 1 Australian administrative law: The constitutional and legal matrix
- 2 Administrative law in Australia: Themes and values
- 3 The public/private distinction in Australian administrative law
- 4 Australian administrative law: The human rights dimension
- 5 Administrative tribunals
- 6 Australian Ombudsman: A continual work in progress
- 7 Freedom of information
- 8 Delegated legislation
- 9 The concept of ‘justiciability’ in administrative law
- 10 Standing
- 11 Reasons for administrative decisions: Legal framework and reform
- 12 Relevant and irrelevant considerations
- 13 Improper purpose
- 14 Reasonableness, rationality and proportionality
- 15 The ‘no evidence’ rule
- 16 Failure to exercise discretion or perform duties
- 17 Procedural fairness: The hearing rule
- 18 The doctrine of substantive unfairness and the review of substantive legitimate expectations
- 19 The impact and significance of Teoh and Lam
- 20 The rule against bias
- 21 Jurisdictional error without the tears
- 22 Privative clauses and the limits of the law
- 23 Administrative law judicial remedies
- Endnotes
- Index
Summary
‘Improper purpose’ is a recognised ground, both at common law and under statute, which, if established, can enable the courts to invalidate the exercise of a discretionary power. At common law, this ‘elementary proposition’ was first established in England ‘in cases concerning the exercise of powers of compulsory acquisition’. At the federal level in Australia, under the Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review Act) Act 1977, s5(1)(e) and s6(1)(e) provide respectively for judicial review of a decision or conduct engaged in for the purpose of making a decision on the ground ‘that the making of the decision was an improper exercise of the power conferred by the enactment in pursuance of which it was purported to be made’. ‘An improper exercise of a power’ referred in relation to a decision or conduct engaged in the making of a decision is defined in both instances as meaning ‘an exercise of power for a purpose other than a purpose for which the power is conferred’. This fundamental principle was articulated in the following broad fashion by Gibbs CJ in The Queen v Toohey; Ex parte Northern Land Council (hereafter ‘Toohey’):
The principle, which is clearly settled … is that a statutory power may be exercised only for the purposes for which it is conferred.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Australian Administrative LawFundamentals, Principles and Doctrines, pp. 198 - 211Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2007