Basic approaches to understanding the objectives of administrative law

On the basis of a generalization of those dominant viewpoints on objectives of administrative law that are developed within Ukrainian administrative legal science, the author determined that they are united by the recognition of the following to be objectives of administrative law: (1) specifying and ensuring the implementation of human rights and freedoms in the public-legal sphere through the introduction of mechanisms administrative legal regulation and protection in the public administration domain; (2) determination of the standards for the exercise of public management functions by administrative authorities and the provision of administrative services by them, as well as the establishment and improvement of substantive and procedural tools for activities of administrative authorities, including the means of legal protection against violations on their part as well as mechanisms of civil control over their activities. According to the outcomes of the study of approaches to understanding of the tasks of administrative law in world scientific community, the article notes that according to the national tradition of the common law countries, which was adopted by many states that represent the civil law legal tradition, the fundamental objective of administrative law is recognized to be the determination of optimal (from the point of view of the rule of law and good governance) limits of the margin of appreciation of administrative authorities and providing private individuals with legal protection against abuse of administrative power. Moreover, it is particularly noticeable that a special emphasis is placed on guaranteeing the transparency and accountability of administrative authorities to civil society. Less important is the task of administrative law, which consists in establishing the principles, substantive rules and procedures for the performance of administrative functions by government authorities, as well as the accumulation in administrative practice and judicial case-law of the potential for increasing the effectiveness of administrative law.