Appeal body cannot reconstruct unclear reasoning of grants commission

ATA/400/1997Court of Justice / Administrative ChamberJun 24, 1997Dismissed

Extracted by Omnilex

Omnilex summary

In a study-grant matter, the court held that the reviewing authority may not attempt to reconstruct the commission's reasoning when the decision lacks intelligible motivation. Respect for the right to be heard requires the commission itself to give reasons in a manner that enables the affected person to understand the decision and exercise the right of appeal. An unclear or missing motivation is not cured by post hoc interpretation by the appeal body.

Omnilex headnote

RLEE 83; right to be heard and duty to state reasons in administrative proceedings: the deciding authority must provide an intelligible motivation enabling the addressee to assess the decision and lodge an effective appeal. The appeal authority cannot substitute its own reconstruction of the omitted or unclear reasoning for the defective motivation of the first-instance authority (consid. 1).

Full text

Descripteurs

BOURSE D'ETUDES; INSTRUCTION ET FORMATION PROFESSIONNELLE; ALLOCATION D'ETUDE; ALLOCATION SPECIALE; CIRCONSTANCE EXTRAORDINAIRE; ETUDIANT; ETAT ETRANGER; FORMATION PROFESSIONNELLE; UNIVERSITE; POURSUITE NORMALE DES ETUDES; PROCEDURE ADMINISTRATIVE; MOTIVATION; IP

Normes

RLEE.83

Résumé

"Il n'appartient pas à l'autorité de recours de tenter de reconstituer la motivation de la commission alors que le respect du droit d'être entendu exige que cette dernière s'exprime de manière intelligible pour permettre à l'administré d'exercer son droit de recours."

Keywords

study grantright to be heardreasoned decisionadministrative appealmotivationstudentappeal authority

Extracted by Omnilex

Key legal questions extracted by Omnilex

Key legal question

Whether the appeal authority may reconstruct the commission's reasoning despite unclear motivation.

Extracted holding

No. The commission had to state its reasons intelligibly so that the person concerned could exercise the right of appeal; the appeal authority may not replace that missing reasoning by reconstruction.

Extracted reasoning

The right to be heard requires a decision to be reasoned in a way that is understandable to the addressee. If the motivation is not intelligible, the defect cannot be remedied by the reviewing authority attempting to infer what the commission meant.

Appeal body cannot reconstruct unclear reasoning of grants commissionAI generated