Administrative Discretion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Administrative Discretion - Essay Example Since the public sector employees play a vital role in the economic growth of a nation, every nation normally formulates special policies for preserving the interests of public employees. However, it seems that various organizational practices and other developments impinge on the worksite interests of public employees. With intent to discuss the issue, this paper will cover the associated terms like administrative discretion, cyber security threats, and statutory protections for public employees. Administrative discretion In the legal context, the term discretion indicates the power to decide or act according to one’s own judgment. Some legal systems like US allow certain discretionary powers to administrative authorities. To illustrate, US law system has framed some broad limits within which an administrative authority can operate. For instance, a statute confers discretion if it is reasonable and is in public interest. To define, the administrative discretion is the experti se of professional expertise and judgment as opposed to strict adherence to regulations or statutes, in making a decision or performing official acts or duties (The Free Dictionary). In other words, when a legal system permits an administrative authority to practice discretion, it is called administrative discretion. ... Although, the law imposes certain regulations on the administrative authorities in exercising their discretionary powers, it is often seen that their functions are not in line with law requirements. To illustrate, majority of the authorized persons exercise their discretionary powers to safeguard their selfish interests rather than serving employees’ needs. Kannabiran (2009) points out The Air India v. Nergesh Meerza, A.I.R. (1981) S.C. 1829, a famous Indian case related to wrongful practice of administrative discretion. At the time of the case, an air hostess normal age of retirement was 35 years. However, a regulation of the corporation authorized the managing director to increase the air hostess retirement age up to 45 years. The regulation empowered the managing director to use the provision of discretion on the account of his personal opinion rather than recording specific reasons pertaining to the decision. The regulation lacked specific guidelines and it reflected biase d approach and discrimination in the practice of such discretion. In this case, the court held that it clearly indicated a situation of official arbitrariness. Public employees are often affected by the adverse exercise of administrative discretion authority as they are largely employed under administrative agencies. An authority gets the freedom to take action when it is conferred with discretionary power. However, the court can take decisions only in respect of legal validity of those taken actions. Therefore, this provision can be a serious threat to individual liberty especially, public employees’ liberty. Cyber security threats Hackers and spammers are the potential cyber security threats to public employees in this 21st century. In the opinion