24 THE BRITISH APPROACH TO POLITICS

exists what is called droit adwim5^a^/--^dministrative law,
or, more exactly, special law for officials. When a servant of the
Government, in the course of his work, inflicts a wrong on any
one, he cannot, like Mr. Bridgeman in 1923, be brought before
the ordinary courts, but must be brought before a special type of
court, which will determine whether he has acted in good faith
and obedience -to orders. A public servant who has so acted is
thus protected without the need for a special Indemnity Act;^
on the other hand, officials, feeling secure, may be tempted to
stretch their powers. Droit admnistratif, however, does not mean
that officials can do as they please; indeed, where it prevails,
a special study will have been made of the offences which
officials are likely to commit and precautions will have been
taken against them. Where the Government owns no law but
its own wishes, there is tyranny; where it is subject to special
laws,, droit admnistratif:, where it obeys the ordinary law of the
land, the Rule of'Law.

Are there any signs of administrative law in Britain?—or,
to put the question more precisely, are there any persons, other
than the ordinary courts, presided over by judges and magistrates,
who can exercise judicial powers, deciding whether or not the
law has been broken, and inflicting penalties? At first sight,
Courts-Martial, which try members of the Armed Forces for
certain offences, appear to fit the question. The Armed Forces,
however, are not free from the ordinary law; the man who
enlists puts himself under military law as well as the ordinary
law, so the Rule of Law is not seriously challenged. Other
examples are more significant. In 1927 a Trade Unionist objected
to the support given by the Trade Union Congress to the Daily
Herald) and asked the Registrar of Friendly Societies whether
this was not an illegal use of their funds. The Registrar decided
it was not, and the Trade Unionist took the matter to court*
The judge ruled that since the Registrar had decided the matter,
his court had nothing to say; the Registrar thus appears to have
the power of deciding, in some matters, what is legal and what