The Relational Turn in Dutch Administrative Law

The structure of national continental systems of administrative law is typically determined by the classical notions of strict legal verticality and the undivided public interest. In the present era of individualization, privatization, decentralization and internationalization, these notions have co...

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Main Author: Lukas Van den Berge
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Utrecht University School of Law 2017-02-01
Series:Utrecht Law Review
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.utrechtlawreview.org/articles/10.18352/ulr.374/
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author Lukas Van den Berge
author_facet Lukas Van den Berge
author_sort Lukas Van den Berge
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description The structure of national continental systems of administrative law is typically determined by the classical notions of strict legal verticality and the undivided public interest. In the present era of individualization, privatization, decentralization and internationalization, these notions have come under increasing pressure. This article presents an analysis of Dutch administrative law as a case in point. How may a stable and legitimate system of judicial review of government actions take shape that responds to its modern context of ‘horizontalization’ and ‘fragmentation’, but still remains connected to its classical ideals of abstract right and the common good? In search for answers, this article first provides a theoretical and historical account of Dutch administrative law’s basic fundaments. Then, it presents an analysis of its recent ‘relational turn’, drifting away from its classical ‘autonomous’ focus on the lawful distribution of rights and goods among all members of society towards a modern ‘relational’ conception of administrative law that primarily concentrates on the settling of disputes between concrete parties. Ultimately, it proposes a way forward in which the ‘autonomous’ notions of legal verticality and the undivided common interest are still taken into consideration – embedded, to be sure, within a ‘relational’ and ‘pluralist’ theory of public law that acknowledges the ‘horizontalized’ and ‘fragmentized’ social and institutional context that it is supposed to regulate.
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spelling doaj.art-bf8ff2ab69f8445b91356cb3370fd3062022-12-21T23:58:18ZengUtrecht University School of LawUtrecht Law Review1871-515X2017-02-011319911110.18352/ulr.374339The Relational Turn in Dutch Administrative LawLukas Van den Berge0Erasmus School of Law, Erasmus University RotterdamThe structure of national continental systems of administrative law is typically determined by the classical notions of strict legal verticality and the undivided public interest. In the present era of individualization, privatization, decentralization and internationalization, these notions have come under increasing pressure. This article presents an analysis of Dutch administrative law as a case in point. How may a stable and legitimate system of judicial review of government actions take shape that responds to its modern context of ‘horizontalization’ and ‘fragmentation’, but still remains connected to its classical ideals of abstract right and the common good? In search for answers, this article first provides a theoretical and historical account of Dutch administrative law’s basic fundaments. Then, it presents an analysis of its recent ‘relational turn’, drifting away from its classical ‘autonomous’ focus on the lawful distribution of rights and goods among all members of society towards a modern ‘relational’ conception of administrative law that primarily concentrates on the settling of disputes between concrete parties. Ultimately, it proposes a way forward in which the ‘autonomous’ notions of legal verticality and the undivided common interest are still taken into consideration – embedded, to be sure, within a ‘relational’ and ‘pluralist’ theory of public law that acknowledges the ‘horizontalized’ and ‘fragmentized’ social and institutional context that it is supposed to regulate.http://www.utrechtlawreview.org/articles/10.18352/ulr.374/administrative lawlegal theorypublic-private dividejudicial reviewSchutznormDutch administrative law
spellingShingle Lukas Van den Berge
The Relational Turn in Dutch Administrative Law
Utrecht Law Review
administrative law
legal theory
public-private divide
judicial review
Schutznorm
Dutch administrative law
title The Relational Turn in Dutch Administrative Law
title_full The Relational Turn in Dutch Administrative Law
title_fullStr The Relational Turn in Dutch Administrative Law
title_full_unstemmed The Relational Turn in Dutch Administrative Law
title_short The Relational Turn in Dutch Administrative Law
title_sort relational turn in dutch administrative law
topic administrative law
legal theory
public-private divide
judicial review
Schutznorm
Dutch administrative law
url http://www.utrechtlawreview.org/articles/10.18352/ulr.374/
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