“Why? The answer is a lemon!”: the principle of reason-giving in administrative law

Reason-giving, along with fairness, rationality, and good faith, is one of the ambiguous concepts. Depending on the concept of law and methodological framework, this term can mean different phenomena. For a legal formalist, this principle primarily refers to the normative foundations of legal instruments. When applying theory of argumentation, reason-giving pertains to the motives and persuasiveness of decision-making. Within the public administration approach, the relationship between goals and means in the decision-making comes to the fore, including their scientific justification and an evidence-based approach. Due to such diversity, it is necessary to clearly separate various meanings and aspects of reason-giving. At the same time, in traditional Russian administrative law scholarship, reason-giving is not distinguished from legality. In this article, the authors argue against the fallacy of such approaches, highlighting the distinct content and elements of reason-giving. The main author’s point is that this is the material principle, rather than formal criteria for reviewing administrative actions. There remains the possibility that the court conducts fact-finding in administrative litigation instead of the administrative body. Hence, it is important to evaluate critically the forms of interaction between courts and administration in the course of reviewing compliance with the principle of reason-giving. The article consists of five parts. The first part examines the history of reason-giving in key legal traditions. The second and third parts are devoted to the study of the formation of this principle in the Russian Empire and Soviet administrative law. Turning to the history of pre-revolutionary and Soviet administrative law provides continuity in the interpretation of the principle under consideration. The fourth and fifth parts analyze the existing approaches to the duty of reason-giving in the Anglo-American and Civil Law traditions of administrative law. It is argued that reason-giving is a general principle of law in key legal traditions. Comparative legal analysis is considered a methodological prerequisite for further research on this principle in Russian administrative law.