détournement de pouvoir

Détournement de pouvoir is a ground of review in French administrative law, applied by the Conseil d'État. An act is annulled where the authority, though competent and following the right procedure, used its power to achieve an end the law did not intend, such as a private, political or improper purpose.

The Indian equivalents are mala fides, exercise of power for an improper or collateral purpose, and “colourable exercise of power”, all grounds of judicial review of administrative action. The term appears in comparative administrative law, often beside droit administratif.

Example

Transferring the officer only to stop him from completing an inquiry is a détournement de pouvoir, what Indian courts call a mala fide exercise of power.

See also

droit administratif · delegatus non potest delegare

Read more in the study notes

• Rule of law and droit administratif (Administrative Law)
• Administrative discretion and its judicial review (Administrative Law)
• Juvenile Justice Act, 2015: salient features and the Juvenile Justice Board (Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita)
• Juvenile Justice Act: children in need of care and protection, the Child Welfare Committee and rehabilitation (Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita)
• Reform of justice delivery: legal aid, Lok Adalats, ADR, Gram Nyayalayas, PIL and plea bargaining (Law and Social Transformation in India)
• Victimology: meaning, history and philosophy (Penology and Victimology)