Standard to Determine Liability of Administrative Authorities for a Wrongful Act arising from Regulatory Failure : A Comparative Study between Thailand and Japan (Part I)

Abstract

          Failure to perform regulatory functions is significantly different from failure to perform other administrative functions. For regulatory failure, damage is usually caused primarily by an action or omission of a third party—a private person. Administrative authorities do not directly cause the damage; they have duties to regulate and oversee activities of that private person but fail to do so. Moreover, administrative authorities often have a high degree of discretion to decide when and how regulatory functions should be executed. As such, this paper argues that the standard to determine liability of administrative authorities in the case of regulatory failure should be different and stricter than that of failure to perform other administrative functions. By comparatively examine existing laws and relevant court judgments in Thailand and Japan regarding administrative authorities’ liability for regulatory failure, this paper seeks to ascertain what the appropriate standard should be.