Verwaltung zwischen Unparteilichkeit und Gestaltungsaufgabe

The author deals with the question of the appropriate scope of impartiality in administrative decision-making in the era of privatization and regulatory reform. The importance of impartiality depends to a large extent on one's concept of the essence of the administrative process. Quasi-judicial decision-making, policy-making, the exercising of expertise and public management are given a different emphasis in different contexts and in different legal systems. Michael Fehling makes a case for a flexible, balanced approach which relies on procedural openness, on judicial review adjusted to the dangers a particular situation poses to the decision-maker's impartiality and on a comprehensive statement of reason which should also influence the allocation of the burden of proof.