administrative law

American  

noun

1. the body of rules and principles that governs the duties and operations of federal or state administrative agencies, as commissions and boards.

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Etymology

Origin of administrative law

First recorded in 1890–95

Example Sentences

The legal action filed by the department is the first step in a potentially drawn out process, which could lead to a public hearing before an administrative law judge.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 4, 2026

Last month, the state public-service commission ruled Sleca could abandon 158 customers, including the Boss family, but sent the case over the remaining 124 back to an administrative law judge.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 10, 2026

Jeff Narvil, 57, an administrative law judge from Jackson, Mississippi, has spent the past 14 months studying Welsh, largely on his own, often in the early hours of the morning.

From BBC • Feb. 8, 2026

The state’s administrative law office decides whether rules and regulations written by North Carolina agencies are in keeping with state law.

From Salon • Oct. 31, 2025

He devoted himself ardently to the study of administrative law with such zeal that he hardly went out of the house, except a little while in the evening to rest his brain.

From Maximina by Palacio Valdés, Armando