HOULE, France <br/><br/>
Tribunals and guidelines :  exploring the relationship between fairness and legitimacy in administrative decision-making 

 - Toronto :   IPAC Institute of Public Administration of Canada,  2006 
<br/><br/> The objective of this paper is to address two questions: why do administrative tribunals such as the Immigration Refugee Board resort to developing guide-lines, and what are the principles and values which legitimize these initiatives? The role of tribunals in policy-making and/or policy implementing raises important questions. For example, to whom are tribunals accountable for the development and application of guidelines where the functions of a tribunal - especially the adjudicative functions - are intended to be independent of government?The authors seek to understand better the dynamics of tribunals' role in the policy process. They propose a classification of guidelines based on the function they perform in administrative proceedings and provide an analysis of the normative framework underlying guidelines. The authors explore how a legal analysis of guidelines might shed on the theory and practice of public administration. The authors conclude that in the absence of a nuanced understanding of the legal status of guidelines, the relationship between administrative practice and the rule of law remains uncertain and unstable