Ministerial act

In United States law, a ministerial act is a government action "performed according to legal authority, established procedures or instructions from a superior, without exercising any individual judgment."^[1] It can be any act a functionary or bureaucrat performs in a prescribed manner, without exercising any individual judgment or discretion.^[2] Under law, this would be classified under the rubric of public policy.

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,^[3]
• notarization (acknowledgement) by a notary public,^[4]
• mechanical processing of an income tax return^[5]
• determining the existence of facts and applying them as required by law, without any discretion^[6]
• issuance of a building permit^[7]
• approval of a subdivision real estate^[8]
• approval of a demolition permit^[9]
• a court's remand for "the correction of language in a judgment or the entry of a judgment in accordance with a mandate"^[10]

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^[11]

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.^[12]

Absolute or sovereign immunity does not apply to the performance or non-performance of ministerial acts.^[13]

See also

• Bureaucracy
• Common law
• Equity (law)
• Writs