Principles of (European) Good Administration

The Working Group on EU Administrative Law of Parliament's Committee on Legal Affairs recently reported on the desirability of an EU-wide code of administrative procedure along the lines of America's Administrative Procedure Act (or Ontario's Statutory Powers Procedure Act).

Deference to Administrators' Interpretations of their Own Regulations

The Supreme Court of the United States recently cast a critical eye over the concept of Auer deference (so called even though the seminal case is actually Bowles v. Seminole Rock & Sand Co.). When administrative bodies promulgate rules, regulations and policies to fill in the gaps in statutory provisions, their promulgations may themselves have gaps and require further interpretation. Auer deference commands that any such further interpretation "becomes of controlling weight unless it is plainly erroneous or inconsistent with the regulation" (see here).