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For many years, most studies on administrative justice were written from a doctrinal legal perspective. More recently, however, administrative justice has also become the subject of a growing body of empirical research. This chapter provides an overview of empirical administrative justice research in three fields: administrative decision-making, redress mechanisms, and the impact of redress mechanisms on administrative practice. In legal doctrine, ‘legal instrumentalism’ has become central to thinking about administrative justice. However, the findings from empirical research provide little support for the underlying assumptions of instrumentalism. In this way, empirical legal research forces us to rethink the relationship between administrative law and administrative justice. The chapter concludes that while in some cases law and legal institutions may be an effective instrument to promote administrative justice in other cases, the direct impact of law is severely limited and law may even have a negative effect on the quality of administrative justice.

The PROTECT COVID-19 National Core Study on transmission and environment is a UK-wide research programme improving our understanding of how SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19), is transmitted, and how this varies in different settings and environments. This improved understanding is enabling more effective measures to reduce transmission, save lives and get society back towards ‘normal’. Construction workers across the UK have played a vital role in keeping the country running during the COVID-19 pandemic. This research report describes a scoping study aimed at improving understanding of the construction sector’s efforts to build a ‘COVID-secure’ workplace. The study was carried out by researchers from the Thomas Ashton Institute and was completed in July 2021. The researchers carried out: a rapid review of previous studies investigating transmission; a survey and interviews with four principal contractor organisations; and interviews with representatives from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE)’s Construction Division and the Unite Union. The researchers identify six key themes in the industry’s response to reducing COVID-19 transmission: contractual partnerships; organisational culture; communication; multi-level challenges; context of the sector; and best safety practice and technology use. The report includes two case studies of construction sites with some of the measures used to reduce COVID-19 transmission. This report and the research it describes were funded by the PROTECT COVID-19 National Core Study on transmission and environment which is managed by HSE on behalf of HM Government. Its contents, including any opinions and/or conclusions expressed, are those of the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect Government or HSE Policy.