HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT FOR ADMINISTRATIVE LAW
"The problem in today's complex legal environment is that the law is not able to be divided conveniently into segments. Any apparently discrete section of legal practice cannot avoid the pervasive influence of other areas which are of general application. A leading example is found in the public-private law interface. There are few aspects of economic activity in our society that are not supervised by some kind of statutory regulator with a variety of powers and discretions. These may cover the grant, withholding, suspension or cancellation of licenses to carry on various kinds of commercial activity and powers or not to approve particular transactions. The ACCC and ASIC are good examples. In the field of intellectual property, the Commissioner of Patents and the Registrar of Designs and Trade Marks have the power to make important administrative determinations..........Then there are the large numbers of Ministers, officials and tribunals, Federal and State, whose decisions can affect the occupation, welfare and opportunities of countless individuals and organisations. As I have remarked elsewhere, administrative law is the ether in which private law moves in a regulated society. In such a society, no legal practitioner, however specialised, can afford to be unaware of the salient features of administrative law."