Administrative Law: Exhaustion of Remedies

Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies

• A party must exhaust all means of administrative redress afforded by law before invoking the jurisdiction of the courts of justice.
• The doctrine of exhaustion of administrative remedies applies only where there is an express legal provision requiring such administrative step as a condition precedent to taking action in court.
• A detainer suit is premature if it fails to exhaust all administrative remedies, such as compliance with Section 412 of the Local Government Code on the need for prior barangay conciliation proceedings.

Applicability of Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies

• Exhaustion of administrative remedies is applicable when there is competence on the part of the administrative body to act upon the matter complained of.
• Administrative agencies are not courts; they are neither part of the judicial system, nor are they deemed judicial tribunals.
• The principle of exhaustion of administrative remedies applies only where the act of the administrative agency concerned was performed pursuant to its quasi-judicial function and not when the assailed act pertained to its rule-making or quasi-legislative power.

Rationale for Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies

• The doctrine of exhaustion of administrative remedies is based on the separation of powers, which enjoins upon the judiciary a becoming policy of non-interference with matters coming primarily within the competence of other departments.
• The legal reason is that the courts should not act and correct its mistakes or errors and amend its decision on a given matter and decide it properly.
• The practical reason is that the administrative process is intended to provide less expensive and more speedy solution to disputes.

Effect of Failure to Exhaust Administrative Remedies

• Failure to exhaust administrative remedies will not affect the jurisdiction of the courts.
• Non-compliance with the doctrine will deprive the complainant of a cause of action.
• Under the Doctrine of Primacy of administrative remedies, an error in the assessment must be administratively pursued to the exclusion of ordinary courts whose decision would be void for lack of jurisdiction.

Exceptions to the Doctrine

• The doctrine of qualified political agency applies when the respondent is a department secretary whose acts as an alter ego of the President bear the implied and assumed approval of the latter.
• No appeal need be taken to the Office of the President from the decision of a department head because the latter is in theory the alter ego of the former.
• There is greater reason for not requiring prior resort to the Office of the President in this case since the administrative decision sought to be reviewed is that of the President himself.