SCHEDULE

CODE OF GOOD ADMINISTRATIVE CONDUCT

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

Preface

2

Executive summary

3

Chapter 1: General information about good administrative conduct

4

Chapter 2: Administrative action

7

Chapter 3: Lawful administrative action

11

Chapter 4: Fair procedures

13

Flowchart: Initial steps for taking a decision

15

Chapter 5: Consultation procedures where an individual is affected

16

Flowchart: Consultation procedures where individuals are affected

19

Chapter 6: Consultation procedures where the public is affected

20

Flowchart: Consultation procedures where the public is affected

26

Chapter 7: Reasonable and justifiable departures

27

Chapter 8: Reasonableness

28

Chapter 9: Informing people of the decision

29

Chapter 10: Giving reasons for decisions

31

Flowchart: Complete administrative process

34

Chapter 11: Judicial review of administrative action

35

Chapter 12: Good administrative conduct practical example

40

ANNEXURES:

Annexure A: Section 33 of the Constitution

48

Annexure B: The Promotion of Administrative Justice Act, 2000

49

Annexure C: The Regulations on Fair Administrative Procedures, 2002

59

Annexure D: List of Resources

71

Annexure E: Sample letter

72

1

PREFACE

Section 10(5A) of the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act, 3 of 2000, (‘PAJA’) says that the Minister for Justice and Constitutional Development must publish a code of good administrative conduct. The code must provide administrators with practical guidelines and information to promote an efficient administration and the achievement of the objects of PAJA.

This Code therefore provides guidance to administrators to ensure that the decisions they take are lawful, reasonable and procedurally fair. It also assists administrators to comply with the requirement that reasons must, when requested, be given for decisions. This Code does not impose legal obligations on administrators in addition to those imposed by the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 108 of 1996, (“the Constitution”) and PAJA. It explains PAJA and the relevant law in the Constitution in order to assist administrators to comply with their legal duties.

The Code assists administrators to identify the basic rules of administrative justice that are applicable to their work. It is not a legal textbook and administrators must seek legal advice in difficult cases. For a list of legal textbooks and other resources dealing with administrative law, see Annexure D. A helpful resource for use by administrators is the website http://www.aja.org.za.

Administrators should follow this Code’s guidelines as closely as possible. This is because a departure from the guidelines contained in this Code could be an indication that the Constitution and the requirements of PAJA have not been complied with.

This Code has been approved by Parliament and the Cabinet as required by PAJA.