The World’s Dilemma

The international community should think about how to deal with the DPRK In early August,a photo of former U .S.President Bill Clintons haking the hand of the leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea(DPRK),Kim Jong     

A Historic Visit

British Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Ivan Lewis' shuttle diplomacy is helping the West to better understand Tibet The first-ever visit by a British min- ister to the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) this September raised little comment in the UK. Neither The Guardian, nor the BBC, both of which have extensive coverage of issues in China, mentioned the     

Anarchy in the UK

<正>Turmoil raises questions about the credibility of politicians and the police The unrest occurring in the UK in early August was unexpected. They were the first serious urban disturbances in the UK     

Diplomacy Still Matters

The departure from London of Madam Fu Ying, China's Ambassador to the UK for the past three years, to take up a new post in Beijing was a reminder of the often low-profile but key work that diplomats still do.     

Australia's Northern Territory perspectives of public sector reform

This article analyses the forces driving reform of the Northern Territory Public Sector over the past 20 years. It spans an era in which the NT, a ‘small State’ moved from colonial-style dependency on external governments to self-government, with corresponding shifts in the public service. Included is an analysis of the demise of old civil service traditions and their replacement with modern methods of policy development and implementation. It scrutinizes the impact of politicians and politics on the public sector. It examines new legislation currently governing the public sector and the role played by the Public Service Commissioner in leading the reform movement through all its stages—from the analysis of weaknesses in earlier legislation to the passage of new legislation which encapsulates the philosophy behind a modern and effective public sector. It looks at what subordinate legislation is needed by a public service to add substance to a primary Public Sector Employment & Management Act. It analyses the main functions of the Act and highlights the roles and relationships of politicians with the Public Service Commissioner and the Chief Executive Officers of various government departments. Finally, it attempts to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the Act after three years of operation. (© 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)     

ADMINISTRATIVE LAW AND JUDICIAL REVIEW – THE PRACTICAL EFFECTS QF DEVELOPMENTS OVER THE LAST 25 YEARS ON ADMINISTRATION IN CENTRAL GOVERNMENT

The writer of this article served in the legal civil service from 1951–1984, mainly in the Board of Trade and its successor departments but from 1980–1984 as Treasury Solicitor. The article reflects his personal views based on this experience. Its theme is that, although access to the courts has been made easier for the citizen aggrieved by an administrative decision, and court procedure has been greatly improved, the course of administration has been less dramatically affected – in fact little, if at all, by some important earlier cases. Nevertheless the spirit of administrative law is now becoming more widely diffused, the areas which are not subject to review are becoming less and a number of specific doctrines have been developed which affect administration. The following are particularly emphasized: (1) the courts’restrictive view of the ‘Wednesbury’ doctrine and their tendency to find other grounds to overide decisions which they find objectionable or unreasonable – a tendency which causes real administrative difficulty; (2) the recently enunciated doctrine of legitimate expectation whose limits are uncertain but which may have considerable effect on administration in future; and (3) the requirement that a person affected by a policy should be given an opportunity to show that he is a special case. Finally the writer has to emphasize that his personal experience ended in August 1984 when he retired. In a large organization such as the civil service a change of ethos is slow. He is assured by some, particularly Mr John Bailey cb , his successor as Treasury Solicitor, who has read this article in draft, that he understates the degree to which concepts of administrative law are infusing the whole spirit of administration, and even more directly, the short-term effects in individual departments such as the Department of the Environment which has been the subject of long-running campaigns directed by other bodies against it through the courts.