Government agency - gyosei kikan

The person in charge of individual administrative affairs carried out by an administrative body. Under the current system, there are two different concepts of administrative agency.

(1) Under the Administrative Action Law, an institution that decides and expresses the will of the administrative subject is considered an administrative agency, and the concept of administrative agency is centered on the concept of administrative agency. This is an idea derived from German law, and it emphasizes the location of the disposition power, i.e. the location of responsibility. There are independent administrative agencies such as the Minister of each ministry, the Director-General of an agency (Social Insurance Agency, etc.), Governors, mayors, tax office directors, and welfare office directors, and there are also collegial administrative agencies such as the Fair Trade Commission, the National Public Safety Commission, the Board of Education, and the Election Management Commission. The Director-General of the Personnel and Pension Bureau is the director of an internal department (internal bureau), but is an exceptional case in which he becomes an administrative agency when it comes to adjudicating pensions. Administrative agencies can also be defendants in lawsuits to cancel administrative dispositions (Article 11 of the Administrative Case Litigation Law). An auxiliary agency is an agency that only assists the exercise of authority of an administrative agency and does not itself have the authority to decide and express the will of the administrative agency to the outside world. This includes the vice ministers and directors of each ministry, the staff of the internal bureaus below the deputy governor of prefectures, and the staff of the deputy mayors of cities, towns, and villages below. An advisory body is an organization that submits a report or opinion in response to an inquiry from an administrative agency. Although the administrative agency respects the opinion of an advisory body when making a disposition, it is not bound by it. Various councils and research committees are examples of this. In contrast, an organization that makes resolutions as a premise for an administrative agency's decision-making is called a participating organization. An example is the Radio Regulatory Council (Article 94 of the Radio Act). When an administrative agency determines the national opinion, it does so based on that resolution. In addition, an organization that exercises power under the orders of an administrative agency or based on the law is called an executive organization. Examples of this include police officers, fire department personnel, and tax collection personnel. An organization that inspects the administration carried out by administrative agencies and audits whether it is correct or not is called an auditing organization, and examples of this include the Board of Audit of the national government and the audit commissioners of local governments.

(2) Under the National Administrative Organization Act, administrative organizations are classified into ministries, agencies, committees, etc. This is a concept that includes the aforementioned administrative agencies and auxiliary organizations. This is a concept that was imported from the United States after World War II, and is convenient for determining the responsibilities of administrative organizations, the organization of internal departments, and the division of responsibilities.

Ministries and agencies refer to the Cabinet Office and each ministry, and their general authority is stipulated in the National Government Organization Act, while their individual authority is stipulated in the respective ministry and agency establishment acts. Ministries and agencies can have internal departments such as secretariats, bureaus, departments, sections and offices, as well as councils, facilities and other organizations, special organizations and local branch offices. Committees and agencies are external bureaus of ministries and agencies. Committees are administrative agencies with a deliberative system, while agencies are single-person organizations and have the characteristics of a mini ministry.

[Yasuhito Abe]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

行政主体の行う個別的行政事務の担当者。現行制度上相異なる二つの行政機関概念がある。

(1)行政作用法上は行政主体の意思を決定表示する機関を行政庁とし、行政庁概念を中心として行政機関概念を構成する。ドイツ法に由来する考え方で、処分権の所在すなわち責任の所在を重視する。行政庁としては各省大臣、庁（社会保険庁等）の長官、知事、市町村長、税務署長、福祉事務所長など独任制の行政庁と、公正取引委員会、国家公安委員会、教育委員会、選挙管理委員会のように合議制のものがある。人事恩給局長は内部部局（内局）の局長であるが恩給の裁定につき行政庁となる例外的存在である。行政庁は行政処分取消訴訟の被告ともなる（行政事件訴訟法11条）。行政庁の権限行使を補助するのみで、それ自体は外部に対して行政庁の意思を決定表示する権限を有しないのを補助機関という。各省庁の次官、局長以下内局の職員、都道府県の副知事以下の職員、市町村の副市町村長以下の職員がこれにあたる。諮問機関は行政庁の諮問に対し答申しまたは意見を具申する機関である。行政庁は処分を行うにあたり諮問機関の意見を尊重するとしても、それに拘束されない。各種審議会、調査会がこれにあたる。これに対して、行政庁の意思決定の前提として議決をなす機関を参与機関という。電波監理審議会（電波法94条）がその例である。行政庁が国の意見を決定するときはその議決に基づいて行う。このほか、行政庁の命を受け、または法律に基づいて実力を行使する機関を執行機関という。警察官、消防職員、徴税職員等がこれにあたる。行政機関の行う行政を検査し、その正否を監査する機関を監査機関といい、国の会計検査院、地方公共団体の監査委員がこれにあたる。

(2)国家行政組織法上は行政機関として省、庁、委員会等を中心とした分類を用いる。これは前記の行政庁、補助機関等を包括した概念である。これは第二次世界大戦後アメリカから輸入された考え方で、行政組織の所掌事務や内部部局の組織、事務分担を定めるのに便利である。

　府・省とは、内閣府・各省のことで、その一般的権限については国家行政組織法が定め、その個別的権限については各府省設置法が定めている。府・省には官房・局・部・課・室等の内部部局、審議会等、施設等機関、特別の機関、地方支分部局を置くことができる。委員会・庁は府・省の外局である。委員会は合議制の行政官庁であるが、庁は独任制で、ミニ省的性格を有する。

［阿部泰隆］

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