A Comparative Genealogy of Administrative Justice: Examining Western Models Vis-à-vis the Islamic Heritage

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Associate Professor of Public Law, Faculty of Law, College of Farabi, University of Tehran, Qom, Iran.

2 Master’s Student of Public Law, Faculty of Law, College of Farabi, University of Tehran, Qom, Iran.

10.22091/cpl.2026.15229.1097

Abstract

 Administrative litigation, at its core, represents the enduring tension between state authority and the fundamental rights of citizens, a tension deeply rooted in the civilizational strata of human legal history. Adopting a genealogical approach, the present study examines the three major legal traditions: the Anglo-Saxon tradition, grounded in judicial unity and the ideal of the rule of law; the French model, characterized by the separation of administrative courts and the principle of legality; and, finally, the Islamic heritage embodied in the institution of the Diwan al-Mazalim (Court of Grievances) and its profound theoretical foundations. The principal focus of the study lies in analyzing the manner in which these traditions interacted and influenced the formation of supervisory and administrative justice systems in Iran, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. The findings demonstrate that, whereas the Anglo-Saxon tradition insisted on the equality of all persons before ordinary courts, the French model established a precise demarcation between administrative and judicial matters, thereby constructing a novel framework for the control of bureaucracy. The encounter of these models with the Islamic world further reveals that, although the historical upheavals of recent centuries directed many Muslim-majority states toward the adoption of Western institutional structures, particularly the French administrative model, such transformation cannot be understood as a mere legal transplantation devoid of indigenous foundations. An examination of the roots of the Islamic jurisprudential tradition demonstrates that the historical institution of the Mazalim had already provided a normative and institutional foundation capable of facilitating the reception and localization of modern administrative concepts. Accordingly, administrative litigation within these societies should be understood as the product of a reinterpretation of the indigenous ideal of resisting injustice within the institutional framework of modern governance. In this sense, contemporary administrative justice seeks to establish a sustainable equilibrium between sovereign authority and the protection of the rights of individuals

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Main Subjects

References

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Journal of Comparative Public Law
Volume 2, Issue 4 - Serial Number 8
December 2025
Pages 1-29

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