Mark Bennett and Joe Tomlinson: Life Events and Administrative Justice

Administrative justice has traditionally been evaluated through the prism of categories constructed by the state, usually by reference to the functions it pursues—taxation, immigration, education, healthcare, and so on. Yet the way people experience these systems rarely fits neatly into such boxes. It is therefore important that we think about administrative justice—including such classic questions of accessibility, fairness of treatment, the burdens of process, the quality of decision-making, and the effectiveness of complaints systems—not just according to established categories of state functions but from a range of different perspectives.

One important but neglected feature of contemporary administrative justice is that the public’s interactions with the state are often triggered by significant events which may result in major changes to, for instance, one’s socioeconomic status, wellbeing, or personal circumstances. Such ‘life events’ might include the birth of a child, being diagnosed with a serious illness, suffering a bereavement, getting married or divorced, moving to a new home, and gaining or losing a job. When people experience life events like these, they are very often required to engage with multiple administrative systems at once.

Administrative justice has traditionally been evaluated through the prism of categories constructed by the state, usually by reference to the functions it pursues—taxation, immigration, education, healthcare, and so on. Yet the way people experience these systems rarely fits neatly into such boxes. It is therefore important that we think about administrative justice—including such classic questions of accessibility, fairness of treatment, the burdens of process, the quality of decision-making, and the effectiveness of complaints systems—not just according to established categories of state functions but from a range of different perspectives. One important but neglected feature of contemporary administrative justice is that the public’s interactions with the state are often triggered by significant events which may result in major changes to, for instance, one’s socioeconomic status, wellbeing, or personal circumstances. Such ‘life events’ might include the birth of a child, being diagnosed with a serious illness, suffering a bereavement, getting married or divorced, moving to a new home, and gaining or losing a job. When people experience life events like these, they are very often required to engage with multiple administrative systems at once.

Life events thus have potentially profound implications for the relationships we maintain with the state. Beginning the evaluation of such institutions and practices from this premise, and thus moving beyond state-defined categories of public administration, holds the potential for considering new means of enhancing administrative justice. There is much scope, therefore, for innovation in practice to be supported, challenged, and enhanced by administrative justice research centring on life events. An essential starting point to such research would simply be to better understand the relationship between life events and administrative justice. Only through that better understanding can we seriously think about if and how life events should be made more of a priority in administrative justice theory and practice.

Авторское резюме: Резюмируя, авторы подчеркивают, что жизненные события становятся критическим контекстом для административной юстиции, требуют межведомственного подхода и инноваций в практике, чтобы обеспечить справедливое и доступное обслуживание населения, особенно в периоды изменений статуса и благосостояния. 199–210 символов.

UK Constitutional Law Association — 2025-11-17

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