Every appointment, promotion, disciplinary penalty and contract a government body signs rests on a legal framework most employees never fully see — until the moment it works against them, or for them. Public service is one of the main instruments a state uses to carry out its policies, which makes the legal rules governing the relationship between an employee and their administration, including the right to challenge a decision, essential knowledge for anyone working in or dealing with the public sector.

This program from the Arab British Fellowship Training Academy builds that knowledge from the ground up: the administrative structure of the state, how administrative decisions are made and challenged, the disciplinary system and sanctions that apply to public employees, and the legal system that governs public service as a whole — giving participants a clear, practical view of sound administrative practice within a properly regulated legal framework.

Who Should Attend?

• Legal officers working in government entities and public authorities.
• Human resources and personnel-affairs professionals in the public sector.
• Administrative auditors and legal inspectors in governmental institutions.
• Anyone interested in studying administrative law and working within public service.

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Explain the fundamental principles, nature and sources of administrative law, and how the state's administrative structure distributes power.
• Describe the legal framework governing public service, from appointment and promotion to discipline.
• Analyze administrative decisions and the legal methods available for challenging them.
• Apply the legal knowledge needed to protect public employees' rights while ensuring they meet their duties.

Module 1: The Architecture of the Administrative State

• The definition and sources of administrative law and its historical development, distinguished from other branches of law.
• Forms of administrative organization, centralized and decentralized, and how central authority relates to independent bodies.

Module 2: Public Service — From Appointment to Career Path

• The constitutional and legal foundations of public service, and how it differs from private contractual employment.
• Conditions for appointment, job classifications and career pathways, plus the legal rights and duties that come with them.
• Rules for promotion, temporary and permanent transfer, and secondment, including their effect on salary and status.

Module 3: Administrative Decisions and the Principle of Legality

• The definition, elements and validity requirements of an administrative decision, and its binding force on employees.
• Methods for enforcing, revoking or amending a decision, within the legal constraints that legality places on discretionary authority.
• Judicial oversight of administrative actions.

Module 4: Oversight, Discipline and Accountability

• Types of administrative control, both internal and external, and the role supervisory bodies play in regulating performance.
• The legal concept of a disciplinary violation, the safeguards built into disciplinary procedures, and the sanctions that follow.
• Legal grounds for ending service, including resignation, retirement and dismissal, and the financial rights that follow.

Module 5: Where Administrative and Criminal Investigation Meet

• The circumstances that require referral to investigation, the legal procedures involved, and how administrative investigation relates to criminal investigation.

Module 6: Administrative Contracts and the State's Special Powers

• What distinguishes an administrative contract from a civil one, its parties, validity conditions, execution and breach.
• The administration's authority to amend contract terms or terminate unilaterally, balanced against the legal safeguards owed to the other party.

Module 7: Liability, Compensation and Judicial Recourse

• Administrative liability for unlawful decisions, the conditions for compensation, and how damage is assessed.
• The line between an employee's personal fault and a fault tied to the service itself, and cases where liabilities combine.
• How administrative courts are structured, the levels of litigation, and judgments of annulment and compensation.

Module 8: Challenging an Administrative Decision

• The conditions for an administrative claim to be admissible, the types of appeals available, and how a court ruling affects the original decision.

Module 9: Administrative Law in a Wider Legal and Digital Context

• How administrative law interacts with civil law, financial legislation and criminal law in cases of workplace offenses.
• Digital transformation and e-government, civil-service reform in comparative systems, and international standards for administrative efficiency.