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CHAPTER III

MUNICIPAL RESPONSIBILITY OF THE STATE

§ 47. Outline of the Subject.

An international claim, with its demand for diplomatic protection, is founded upon some violation of the right of person or property of an alien. In first instance, this right and the remedy for its infringement are measured largely by the municipal law of the state of residence. For this reason it is of importance as a foundation for a closer study of the international responsibility of the state to examine along broad lines the extent to which the state grants municipal remedies to an individual injured by an official or governmental act. This is necessary not only because municipal responsibility is often the measure of international responsibility and because injured aliens are so frequently remitted to their local remedies when calling upon the protection of their own government, but because, as will be seen, the responsibility fixed upon governments toward aliens by international tribunals and in the diplomatic adjustment of cases of protection deviates in many respects from the principles laid down by national judicial and administrative tribunals for the determination of municipal liability.

A detailed study of the remedies of the individual in municipal law against acts of the administration, requires more space than is at our command for the present purpose, namely, to lay a foundation for the international responsibility of the state. The discussion, therefore, will be confined to a comparative treatment of various phases of the municipal responsibility of the state-on the one hand, remedies available to the individual through judicial control over the administration, particularly recourse for the annulment or prevention of unlawful acts of officials; and on the other hand, remedies in the form of actions for damages, against the state or against officers, for the

injuries sustained by individuals through governmental acts. In the course of the discussion, the legal system prevailing in France, Germany, Great Britain and the United States will be primarily drawn upon for purposes of comparison.

$48. Distinction between Governmental and Corporate Functions. Attention may first be directed to certain broad distinctions made in the administrative law of the civil law countries and manifested as well (although unconsciously, except in the case of municipal corporations) in the Anglo-American system. This is a division of the activity of the state into two separate aspects, the one governmental, or what Europeans call the state as a public power (puissance publique, öffentliche Gewalt), the other proprietary, or the state as a civil person. In its capacity as a governmental power or as a sovereign, jure imperii, the state is in principle immune from liability for its acts causing injury to private individuals. In a broad way this activity involves those functions which look to the external and internal security of the state-through army, navy, police, etc. By statute, as will be seen, this sphere of immunity is being gradually narrowed. On the other hand, the state, as a corporation, enters into legal relations with individuals and even engages in various enterprises, jure gestionis. In Europe such activity is even greater than in the United States. It involves such services as the operation of a railroad system, the carrying on of industrial monopolies, e. g., the manufacture of matches and tobacco products, and the ownership of land, buildings and other property. The state in these activities is considered as a private person, subject to the same liabilities and generally to the same principles of law as are applied to the individual. In Germany, the state viewed from this proprietary aspect is called the fiskus; in France these activities are known as actes de gestion. In the United States and Great Britain the admission of contractual liability is a manifestation of the distinction. While the federal government and the commonwealths of the United States have in no other way given expression to the distinction of governmental and private or corporate activities of the state, the distinction is clearly recognized in the law of our cities and other municipal corporations.

49. Judicial Control over Acts of Administration.

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Systems of judicial control over acts of the administration differ very much from country to country. Laferrière divides the important countries into three separate groups: First, the group adopting the French system, which is characterized by the principle of the separation of powers with separate administrative tribunals having jurisdiction of litigation between the administration and individuals, and a tribunal of conflicts to determine what are acts of administration. This system in general has been adopted by Spain, Portugal, Italy, the German Empire and many of the important German states, Austria-Hungary, and some of the cantons of Switzerland. The second group is characterized by the absence of administrative tribunals, the administrative function nevertheless remaining distinct and separate from the judicial. The ordinary judicial tribunals pass upon all claims having a contentious character, but they cannot interfere in the powers of the administration or annul its acts. The independence of the administrative function from the courts may be asserted by raising the conflict, jurisdiction of which matter resides in one of the higher judicial courts. This system is followed by Belgium, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Greece, the majority of the Swiss cantons and some of the smaller German states. With various modifications it has been adopted by several of the states of Latin-America. The third group includes Great Britain and the United States. Here the judicial tribunals have full jurisdiction between the administration and individuals, and by means of the extraordinary legal remedies, particularly injunction, mandamus and certiorari, have the power to delimit the sphere of administrative competence and exercise a powerful control over administrative acts. The system is characterized by a decentralized administration, its elective nature, and the absence of an administrative hierarchy, so that the powers exercised in a large part of Europe by superior administrative authorities are in the AngloAmerican system exercised by the judicial authorities.2 The law of

1 Laferrière, E.. Traité de la juridiction administrative et des recours contentieux, 2nd ed., Paris, 1896, I, p. 26 et seq. Cf. Goodnow, F. J., Comparative administrative law, New York, 1893, II, 144 et seq., for Great Britain, the United States, France and Germany.

2 For general works on the administrative systems of the more important coun

France, Germany and of other countries having an administrative jurisdiction protects the administration from interference by the courts to an extent unknown to the Anglo-American law.1

tries, the following may be consulted. Only some of them have been actually used in the course of the present study:

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France: Aucoc, L., Conférences sur l'administration et le droit administratif, 3rd ed., Paris, 1885-86, 2 v.; Béquet, Léon, Répertoire du droit administratif, Paris, 1882-1907, 24 vol., especially v. 23, title "Responsabilité" by Teissier; Berthélemy, J. B. H., Traité élémentaire de droit administratif, 5. éd., Paris, 1908; Block, Maurice, Dictionnaire de l'administration française, . . . 5. éd., Paris, 1905; 2 vol. Same, Supplément, Paris, 1907; Boeuf, Henri, Résumé de droit administratif, 20. éd., Paris, 1907; Brémond, Jules, Traité théorique et pratique de la compétence administrative, Paris, 1894; Dareste de La Chavanne, Rodolphe, La justice administrative en France, 2. éd., Paris, 1898; Ducrocq, Th., Cours de droit administratif, . . . 7. éd., Paris, 1897-1905, 7 vol.; Hauriou, Maurice, Précis de droit administratif et de droit public, 8th éd., Paris, 1914; Jacquelin, René L. D., Les principes dominants du contentieux administratif, Paris, 1899; Jèze, Gaston, Eléments du droit public et administratif, Paris, 1910; Laferrière, E., Traité de la juridiction administrative et des recours contentieux, . . 2. éd., Paris, 1896, 2 vol.; Mailhol, Dayre de, Dictionnaire encyclopédique d'administration générale, Paris, 1906-8, 5 vol.; Marie, Jean, Eléments de droit administratif, . . . Paris, 1890; Mayer, Otto, Theorie des französischen Verwaltungsrechts, Strassburg, 1886; Moreau, Félix P. L., Manuel de droit administratif, . . . Paris, 1909.

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Germany and Prussia: Altmann, Paul, Die Verfassung und Verwaltung im Deutschen Reiche und Preussen, ... Berlin, 1907-08, 2 vol.; Bornhak, Konrad, Grundriss des Verwaltungsrechts in Preussen und dem Deutschen Reiche, 4th ed., Leipzig, 1912; Fleiner, F., Institutionen des deutschen Verwaltungsrechts, 3rd ed., Tübingen, 1913; Gneist, R., Der Rechtsstaat u Verwaltungsgerichte in Deutschland, 2. aufl., Berlin, 1879; Jahrbuch des Verwaltungsrechts, Berlin, 1907– 1914, vol. 1-8 (1905-1914), and continuation; Kunze, Fritz, Das Verwaltungsstreitverfahren, . . . Berlin, 1908; Loening, Edgar, Lehrbuch des deutschen Verwaltungsrechts, Leipzig, 1884; Mayer, Otto, Deutsches Verwaltungsrecht, Leipzig, 1895-6 (also in French, Paris, 1903–06), 2 vol., 2nd ed., 1914; Meyer, Georg, Lehrbuch des deutschen Verwaltungsrechtes, 3. aufl., Leipzig, 1910; Mohl, Robert v., Die Polizei-wissenschaft nach den Grundsätzen des Rechtsstaates, 3. aufl., Tübingen, 1866, 3 vol.; Sarwey, O., Allgemeines Verwaltungsrecht, Freiburg, 1884; Sarwey, O., Das öffentliche Recht u. die Verwaltungsrechtspflege, Tübingen, 1880; Stengel, Karl M. J. L., Lehrbuch des deutschen Verwaltungsrechts, Stuttgart, 1886; Stengel, Karl M. J. L., Wörterbuch des deutschen Verwaltungsrechts,

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2. auff., by Fleischmann, Tübingen, 1911-1914. 3 v.; Tezner, Friedrich, Die deutschen Theorien der Verwaltungsrechtspflege, . . Berlin, 1901; Zorn, Philipp, Das Staatsrecht des Deutschen Reiches, 2. aufl., Berlin, 1895-97, 2 vols. (Vol. 1: Das Verfassungsrecht; Vol. 2: Das Verwaltungsrecht.

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1 Cf. article by Ernst Freund, Private claims against the state, 8 Pol. Sc. Quar. (1893), 625, 651.

§ 50. When State is Responsible, and Incidence of Liability.

It is now recognized in all civilized countries that the interference of the state in private rights for public purposes requires in some measure a compensation for the special sacrifice borne by the in

Bornhak, Konrad, Geschichte des preussischen Verwaltungsrechts, Berlin, 1884-86, 3 vol.; Handbuch für preussische Verwaltungsbeamte . . . begründet von Illing. fortgeführt von George Kautz, . . . 10 aufl., Berlin, 1913, 3 vol. and index; Handwörterbuch der preussischen Verwaltung, Hrsg. v. Bitter, 2 aufl., Leipzig, 1911, 2 vols.; Preussen, Oberverwaltungsgericht, Die Rechtsgrundsätze des Königlich Preussischen Oberverwaltungsgerichts, Begründet von K. Parey, 4 aufl., Hrsg. von Fr. Kunze . . . und Dr. G. Kautz, . . . Berlin, J. Guttentag, 1905-06, 3 v. and supplement.

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Austria-Hungary: Excel, Theodor, Das Verfahren vor dem K. K. Verwaltungsgerichtshofe . . . Wien, 1885-92, 2 vols.; Grünwald, Ludwig, Der österreichische Verwaltungs-gerichtshof, Mit Vergleichung des bestehenden Rechtes in England, Frankreich, Italien, Baden und Pruessen, Wien, 1875; Gumplowicz, Ludwig, Das oesterreichische Staatsrecht (Verfassungs- und Verwaltungsrecht) . . . 2 aufl., Wien, 1902; Kissling, Karl von, Beiträge zur Theorie des Verwaltungsrechtes. Wien, 1876; Kissling, Karl von, Reichsgericht und Verwaltungsgerichtshof . . . Wien, 1875; Mayrhofer, Ernst, . . . Handbuch für den politischen Verwaltungsdienst, 5. aufl. Wien, 1895-1901, 7 vol. Same, Index, Wien, 1903. Same, Supp., 1909-; Mischler, Ernst, Österreichisches Staatswörterbuch, . . . 2 aufl., Wien, 1905-9, 4 vols.; Normaliensammlung für den politischen Verwaltungsdienst... Wien, 1901-1907, 4 vol. Same, 3 Supplements. Wien, 1911-12;' Tezner, Friedrich, Handbuch des österreichischen Administrativverfahrens, . . Wien, 1896; Ulbrich, Josef, Handbuch der österreichischen politischen Verwaltung, Wien, 1888-90, 2 vol. Same, Supplement. Wien, 1892; Ulbrich, Josef, Lehrbuch des österreichischen Verwaltungsrechtes, . . . Wien, 1904; Zolger, Ivan, Oesterreichisches Verordnungsrecht, verwaltungsrechtlich dargestellt, Innsbruck, 1898; Markus, Desider, Ungarisches Verwaltungsrecht, Tübingen, 1912. Italy: Boccardo, Gerolamo, Manuale di diritto amministrativo, . . . 2. ed., Torino-Napoli, 1886; Brunialti, A., Il diritto amministrativo italiano e comparato nella scienza e nella istituzioni, Torino, 1912-, Vol. 1 and continuation; Brunialti, A., I diritti dei cittadini e la giustizia amministrativa in Italia, Torino, 1902; Enciclopedia di amministrazione, industria e commercio . . . Opera diretta dal Comm. Giuseppe Cerboni . . . Milano, F. Vallardi, 1891-1904, 5 vols.; Forti, Ugo, . . Studi e questioni di diritto amministrativo, . . . Torino, 1906; Orlando, V. E., Primo trattato completo di diritto amministrativo italiano, . . . Milano, 1900-05, vols. 1, 3, 41, 42, 9 (in progress); Presutti, Enrico, . . . Instituzioni di diritto amministrativo italiano, Napoli, 1904-05, 2 vol.; Raneletti, Diritto amministrativo, Naples, 1912-, Vol. 1 and cont.; Salandra, A., Lezioni di diritto amministrativo per cura di C. Manes, Rome, 1912; Vitta, Cino, . . . Giustizia amministrativa. Principi fondamentali, . . . Milano, 1903.

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Spain: Abella, Fermín, Tratado de derecho administrativo español, . . . Madrid, 1886–88, 3 vol.; Aleu y Carrera, Manuel, Diccionario de la administración municipal

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