A Dissertation submitted in Partial fulfilment of the Requirement for the
Award of the Degree of Master of Public Administration (MPA)
of Mzumbe University
Judicial review of administrative action is perhaps the most important development in the field of public Law in the second half of this century. Judicial review is a great weapon in the hands of judges. It comprises the power of a court to hold unconstitutional and unenforceable any law or order based upon such law or any other action by a public authority which is inconsistent or in conflict with the basic law of the land.
This study was conducted with the main objective of examining the relevancy of judicial review in protecting the citizen’s rights against arbitrary Administrative action. Several specific objectives and research questions were made to meet the main objective. Through documentary review and analysis of cases as well as in-depth interviews and questionnaire survey the research revealed that judicial review has so far played a remarkable role in protection of individual rights against arbitrary administrative action but its relevance is less significant due to lack of awareness to the majority of citizens on the way to challenge administrative action through judicial review; high costs of instituting proceedings against the government due to the fact that majority are poor; hence unable to hire advocates; cumbersome procedures or technicalities to access the courts for redress; the High Court being the only institution to hear judicial review applications limiting the access to justice for individuals in remote areas; corruption on party of the judiciary; luck of reliable enforcement mechanism of the judicial review remedies; and negative perception of the people on the judiciary as an institution that can effectively protect their rights against arbitrary administrative action through judicial review.
It is recommended that these challenges and problems be addressed with immediately so as to make judicial review relevant in protection of individual rights against arbitrary administrative action.