Traditions and Change in European Administrative Law

The background to this collection of papers is formed by the changes in contemporary society. In modern-day western societies it is thought that individualism trumps collectivism. There is change from the paradigm of hierarchy to a paradigm of cooperation. This affects administrative law, which is traditionally top-down, but is slowly accepting and incorporating mechanisms of negotiation and bottom-up involvement of stakeholders and concerned individuals.

The contributors to this volume investigate these changes in administrative law and provide an assessment as to whether and to what extent they are reflected in the way judicial review of governmental action is shaped. The analysis covers the EU and a number of EU jurisdictions (France, Germany, United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Italy and Romania) representing different administrative law traditions and being differently responsive to change. To provide an outside comparison, the US administrative system is also covered.