Kalpana Kalpana (Editor)

Ministerial act

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A ministerial act is a government action "performed according to legal authority, established procedures or instructions from a superior, without exercising any individual judgment." It can be any act a functionary or bureaucrat performs in a prescribed manner, without exercising any individual judgment or discretion. Under law, this would be classified under the rubric of public policy.

Contents

Examples of what is, and is not, ministerial

Examples of ministerial acts include:

  • the entry of an order of the court by a clerk of the court,
  • notarization (acknowledgement) by a notary public,
  • mechanical processing of an income tax return
  • determining the existence of facts and applying them as required by law, without any discretion
  • issuance of a building permit
  • approval of a subdivision real estate
  • approval of a demolition permit
  • a court's remand for "the correction of language in a judgment or the entry of a judgment in accordance with a mandate"

    • Actions that are not ministerial would include:

  • a decision about application of a tax law, auditing of an income tax return, determining facts and applying law to those facts, and prioritizing such returns

    • Effects

    If a ministerial act is not performed, then a court may issue a writ of mandamus to compel the public official to perform said act.

    Absolute or sovereign immunity does apply to the performance or non-performance of ministerial acts.

    References

    Ministerial act Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA