Guidelines for the Use of Administrative Discretionary Powers that Are Not Contrary to the Law

Abstract

          The objectives of this research are: 1) to establish criteria for the use of administrative discretion that prevents unlawful conduct; 2) to define factual principles that exercise the discretionary powers of the administrative department that prevents illegality, 3) to develop guidelines and standards for the use of discretion to prevent illegality. Data was collected through in-depth interviews with administrative executives, as discretion holders, and administrative court judges, as reviewers of such discretion. A research assistant recorded the data, which were then categorized and analyzed for content validity. The item-objective congruence (IOC) index for each interview question ranged between 0.67 and 1.00.
          The findings indicated that the use of discretion by the administrative department in order not to fall under the law must be as follows: 1) The exercise of discretion must be in accordance with legal frameworks, including general law, specific law, and constitutional law; 2) The use of discretion must not contradict with the facts; 3) discretion can only be exercised when authorized by law; 4) The use of discretion must not exceed or fall outside the scope of the authority given; 5) The use of discretion must not create a conflict between public interest and personal interest.