Speaking Order

A mechanical order passed by an authority is not sustainable till a speaking order is passed. A non speaking order is illegal and against the principles of natural justice.

Speaking order means an order which is full of reasons or a reasoned order. An order has to be a reasoned or a speaking order. The failure to give reasons could lead to a very justifiable complaint that there was a breach of natural justice. Reasons if given would substitute objectivity for subjectivity . An order which is not full of reasons is a mechanical order. A mechanical order is unconstitutional which is not sustainable in law. Reasons are the soul of law. Principles of natural justice have assumed a wider horizon these days. Right of reasons is, therefore, an indispensable part of sound system of judicial review. Without reasons an order becomes soulless, lifeless. Reasons are the links between the materials on which certain conclusions are based and the actual conclusions. Reasons pre – supposes logic. The various stages of reasoning should be properly interlinked jumping to a particular conclusion .Overlooking any intermediate fact or event is a process opposed to reasons. The giving of reasons is one of the fundamentals of good administration as observed by lord benning in Breen vs. Amalgamated Engineering Union (1971) 1 AII ER 1148 (CA). The requirement of furnishing reasons is a shackle on acting arbitrarily and whimsically. It is the only visible safeguard against possible injustice and arbitrariness. They (reasons) disclose how the mind is applied to the subject matter of a decision, whether it is considered in the set up of a purely administrative or quasi judicial order. They (reasons) should reveal a rational nexus between the facts and the conclusions reached. Only in this way opinions or decisions recorded can be shown to be manifestly just and reasonable. The failure to give reasons can lead to a very justifiable complaint that there has been a breach of natural justice. Reasons if given substitute objectivity or subjectivity . An order has to be a reasoned or a speaking order. A speaking order means an order speaking for itself. To put it simply every order must contain reasons. Giving of reasons in support of an order is considered to be the third principle of natural justice; the other two being.

a. No man should be a judge in his own cause; and

b. Hear the other side, or both side must be heard, or no man should be condemned unheard. A party has a right to know not only the decision, but also the reasons in support of the decision. Reasoned orders are necessary if judicial review is to be effective. The condition to record reasons introduces clarity and excludes arbitrariness. The principle requiring reasons to be given, in support of an order is a basic principle of natural justice which must inform every quasi-judicial process and must be observed in its proper spirit and mere pretence of compliance with it could not satisfy the requirement as per law.