Carltona Doctrine in Administrative Law

In the Administrative Law of England the Carltona Doctrine is basically concerned with the principle governing the relationship between a Minister and his Civil Servant, and the legal validity of the action taken by a Civil Servant without having previous authorisation to do so. The said doctrine was evolved by the Court in the famous case of Carltona v. Commissioner of Works1. In this case the situation was such that there was no general delegation of power and no specific authorisation in favour of the Secretary to sign a land acquisition order on behalf of the Minister. Therefore, the aggrieved person contended that the acquisition order signed by the civil servant was invalid. But the Court clinging to the conventional principle of Ministerial Responsibility held that the Secretary being in the position of an Alter Ego of the Minister could sign the Acquisition Order and that the Minister had the task of managing the affairs of the Department since he was the person responsible to Parliament. The Carltona doctrine was evolved in the context of a land acquisition matter, but subsequently in various other cases the question raised was whether the same principle could be applied to the other situations. In this article, an analysis is given first of the system of Responsibility and Accountability of the Ministers and Civil Servants as it had originated in the system of administrative Law. Then taking note of the gap in the state of law and the new situations the writer asserts that the deficiency in law called for a new principle to fill the gap is highlighted. It was in this background that the doctrine of Carltona emerged in the jurisprudence of English Administrative Law. An analysis is given of the elements of the Doctrine of Carltona. And proceeding further the writer has explored the cases to which the Carltona Doctrine could be applied and the cases to which the doctrine could not be applied.