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The Last Frontier: Fair Procedures in Informal Administrative Adjudication

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The federal government engages in massive amounts of informal adjudication. Michael Asimow discusses the highly diverse world of federal informal adjudication and surveys the procedural requirements imposed on it by due process and federal statutes.

Image courtesy of interviewee. August 26, 2024

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This video is a transcription of a discussion regarding informal adjudication, focusing on its role within administrative law, specifically in the context of disputes involving government agencies. The conversation highlights that while formal trials are often emphasized, much of administrative adjudication occurs informally through means such as negotiations, presentations of data, and mediations.

The speaker notes that the field is vast and varied, leading to challenges in studying informal adjudication due to the lack of commonality across different governmental schemes. They emphasize the importance of recognizing this informal sector to critically examine the fairness and efficiency of the procedures used.

A consultancy project conducted for the Administrative Conference of the United States led to recommendations for improving informal adjudication practices. Key suggestions include ensuring proper notice to parties involved, providing opportunities for representation, minimizing conflicts of interest among decision-makers, and establishing a review process for decisions. Access to an ombudsman was also recommended to address issues informally without formal legal proceedings.

The discussion concludes with calls for administrative agencies to recognize the significance of their informal adjudication practices and to strive for improvements in fairness and efficiency, as these processes greatly impact many people's perceptions of justice in their dealings with the government.

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Here are some similar articles you might find relevant based on the themes and topics discussed in the video:

1. **"The Role of Informal Adjudication in Administrative Law"**
- This article explores the distinction between formal and informal adjudicative processes within administrative law, discussing the benefits and drawbacks of each, and emphasizing the prevalence of informal measures in resolving disputes with government agencies.

2. **"Enhancing Fairness in Informal Administrative Processes"**
- This article discusses various strategies for improving fairness in informal adjudication. It highlights best practices drawn from different governmental convideos and offers recommendations for enhancing transparency and accountability in informal proceedings.

3. **"Negotiation and Mediation in Administrative Disputes: A Comparative Study"**
- A comparative analysis of how negotiation and mediation are utilized within various administrative frameworks. It looks at case studies and outlines the effectiveness of these informal processes compared to formal adversarial trials.

4. **"Ombudsmen and Informal Resolution in Government Agencies"**
- This article examines the role of ombudsmen in facilitating informal dispute resolution within government agencies, discussing how they can help individuals navigate the system and the positive impact this has on public perceptions of justice.

5. **"The Evolution of Administrative Dispute Resolution: From Formal Courts to Informal Mechanisms"**
- This paper traces the development of administrative dispute resolution, focusing on the shift toward informal mechanisms and the implications for policy and practice. It emphasizes the growing importance of informal adjudication in the face of resource constraints in formal judicial systems.

6. **"The Impact of Informal Adjudication on Regulatory Fairness and Accountability"**
- This research examines how informal adjudicative practices shape the regulatory landscape, especially in terms of fairness and accountability. It analyzes how informal processes can either reinforce or undermine public trust in government agencies.

7. **"Challenges in Administrative Law: Understanding Informal Adjudication"**
- An investigation into the challenges faced by legal scholars and practitioners when studying informal adjudication, including issues of consistency, regulation, and the implications of varied practices across jurisdictions.

8. **"Access to Justice: Informal Adjudication and Legal Representation"**
- An article discussing the significance of access to legal representation within informal adjudication processes, and how this affects overall fairness and outcomes in disputes involving government entities.

These articles collectively touch upon the themes of informal adjudication, administrative law, fairness, and public perceptions of justice—similar to the original video you .

X-TIMESTAMP-MAP:LOCAL=00:00:00.000,MPEGTS=900000

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In the subject of administrative law,

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which has been my kind of professional lifetime occupation.

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Um, there's an enormous field called

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administrative adjudication.

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So these are dispute settlements often through trials

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that occur within administrative

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agencies rather than courts.

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And there's vastly more adjudications

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that are administrative, than there are,

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cases in court.

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So we, in the administrative law field,

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usually think about administrative adjudication

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as requiring pretty formal trial type hearings,

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that aren't so different from the ones

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that you see in court, except the judges don't wear black

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robes and they, they don't do it in court, in,

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courtrooms.

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So that's what we mostly talk about when we do

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administrative law.

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Are these,

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quite formal trial type hearings presided over

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by someone called an administrative law judge.

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But that obscures the fact that a vast amount

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of state and federal administrative adjudication

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isn't in formal trial, trial type at all.

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It actu we have disputes between the private party

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and the government, but they are settled

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by very informal means, such as a presentation

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of data negotiations, conferences, public notice

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and comment, mediation, all all kinds of

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decision making methodologies

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that aren't trial type hearings.

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But no one really talks about that very much,

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and that's for a good reason.

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There are countless schemes

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of informal adjudication just now talking about the federal

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government rather than the states.

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But every one is different from the others.

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There's no commonality at all.

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So that makes it hard to study

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and hard to get a handle on this sector.

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So my article is designed to alert people to the fact

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that there is this enormous sector of informal adjudication.

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And once we recognize that, then we

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as administrative lawyers think, well, what are,

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are the procedures that are being used

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and are they fair and efficient?

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So I did a study

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for an agency called the Administrative Conference

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of the United States, so that most of your listeners

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probably have never heard of this agency, which we,

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we all call acus Administrative

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Conference of the United States.

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But it's the best little government agency

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that you've never heard of.

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It's nonpartisan as a very small budget.

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And among other things, it makes recommendations

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for good government that cut across party lines,

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and it often hires consultants.

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And I've worked for acas as a consultant for many years,

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and I did a consulting project on this subject

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of informal adjudication that came up with a series

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of recommendations for best practices that

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agencies could voluntarily follow in trying

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to improve their informal adjudication procedures.

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Um, now since every one of these is different, some of,

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those best practices have to be tailored

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to the specific circumstances involved.

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There's a vast array, there are thousands of different

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informal adjudication schemes just

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within the federal government.

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So I'll just mention a few of them.

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Um, if we're talking about federal grants and loans

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and benefits, most of the determinations are informal.

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So let's say you apply to the National Science Foundation

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for a grant for your particular scientific project

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and the government.

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It's a competitive process.

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Lots of people are applying for this money

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and they turn you down.

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And what can you do about it?

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Can you get a hearing where you try to demonstrate

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that your proposal is better

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than the ones that got accepted?

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No, there are no hearings.

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Um, but there is an informal process by which you can appeal

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the denial of your application in which you get another set

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of eyes looking at the problem.

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Maybe the initial reviewer was wrong or incompetent

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or biased or whatever.

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You do get a, a chance to make your case

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that you should have received this grant.

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Uh, but it's all through informal adjudication.

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Uh, the same is true as of applications

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for banking charters.

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You wanna open a new bank in your town,

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but the existing banks don't want you for obvious reasons.

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Um, this procedure is re this application very important.

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I mean, a lot of money is involved,

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is all handled informally, so that's one big area.

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Another might be visas.

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Uh, you apply for a visa

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to the United States in a foreign country.

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The the local council turns you down, can you get a hearing?

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'cause he turns you down because he thinks you're a

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security risk or whatever.

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Um, and you say you're not.

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No, there is no, there are no hearings.

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Um, but there is an informal procedure

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by which someone else within the agency can take a look at

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the council's decision.

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Uh, and there are just a vast number of other disputes

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between private parties

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and the government that are resolved

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through informal techniques.

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We think there should be a system of proper notice

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to the private party that is, or her application

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or whatever it happens to be of a sanctional

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or a benefit, has been denied

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and the reasons why, so

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that you have a chance to try to overturn them.

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We think there should be an opportunity to do that

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through the presentation of written evidence and discussions

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and negotiations, whatever it takes,

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but a, a process whereby there's a way you can challenge

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that, what we call a frontline decision that denied you

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what you wanted or suggested imposing a sanction on you.

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Uh, we think you should have a right to be represented

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by a lawyer or by a non-lawyer or lay advocate.

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Um, if you can't afford a lawyer, we think

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that the decision makers should be free from

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conflict of interest.

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Um, we feel there should be, if, if you lose, we call

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that the primary decision phase, where you,

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you actually have a chance to come in with written evidence,

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and to make oral arguments and negotiations.

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If that fails, there should be a review process

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within the agency.

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Someone else should put a second set of eyes on the problem.

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Um, we think there should be a statement of reasons as

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to why you're being rejected

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or sanctioned so that you have a, a possibility

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of challenging that, that decision in court.

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But you can't challenge them in court

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unless the court can figure out why the

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agency made the decision.

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So you need a a statement of reasons.

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Uh, we think there should be access to an ombuds.

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So lots of your listeners don't have never heard

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that funny sounding term.

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Um, but it is the ombuds were sometimes referred to

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as ombudsman, which is

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what they're called in Scandinavian countries.

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Uh, these exist all over the place in the government

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and we think there should be access to one.

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So an ombudsman

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or ombuds in has the power to investigate what happened

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and to make recommendations about what to do about it.

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The Ombuds has no formal power, can't force the agency to do

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what you want, but they're very powerful through, you know,

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what's called soft power.

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The agencies don't want to irritate the ombuds,

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so they usually follow what the Ombuds suggests.

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And there's lots of things that ombudsmen can look at

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that really aren't legal.

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For example, I was treated in a rude manner.

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Um, they weren't civil to me. They wouldn't explain.

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They gave me the brush off, they gave me the runaround.

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These, these kinds of complaints are

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what ombuds are good at looking into.

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So because you don't have the protection

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of a formal hearing, we think it would be a good thing

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that you'd have access, to an o.

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Uh, so those are some of the more important recommendations

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that the administrative conference made.

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Um, but we always have to realize that

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informal adjudication is, it's a huge range

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of very important issues like the banking charters,

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or denial of a visa.

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Um, and there are some really trivial

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Examples of the one that's always used is, if you

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and I both apply

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for the last campsite at a national forest campground,

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the forest ranger will say, I get it.

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And Sam, you can leave.

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Well, that's, that's an adjudication, right?

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That, that determined who was gonna have the right

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to occupy government property for a single night.

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That's not very important to the great scheme.

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You wouldn't wanna over proceduralize that the Ranger has

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to make a decision and move on.

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But even the Ranger should explain

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to you why you didn't get the site like

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Michael got there first.

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Um, but you wouldn't over proceduralize

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that, you probably

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Wouldn't have review by

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Another official 'cause the other official isn't there.

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It has to be decided on the spot. But when

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You're talking about Denial of bank charters

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or denial of an application for a grant,

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that's much more significant in money terms.

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So more procedures should be needed. So the agency

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Has to Decide for itself how to tailor

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Our best practices To the actual situation involved.

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The implications first are simply to alert all

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of us administrative lawyers, the people

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who teach this subject at all the law schools, as well

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as all the private lawyers

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and government officials, who are involved

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with administrative agencies.

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They need to think about informal adjudication in a holistic

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manner rather than just as a couple thousand,

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completely different and unrelated

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and pretty irrelevant, dispute settlement schemes.

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It's a lot more than that. Um, so part

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of the job here is simply to alert people,

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to tune them into the existence of this very large area

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of government dispute settlement that calls

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for more uniform approaches that have been available so far,

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but realizing that, that you can't solve this problem,

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through a new statute or something like that,

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because the, the various

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schemes are too different from each other.

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And then secondly, to encourage agencies

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to take a look at their informal adjudication practices,

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which they may never have done,

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and think about, well,

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could we improve this system of justice?

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You know, Sam, this is, these, these

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disputes are everywhere.

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And how the government acts when it has such a dispute.

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It's really the face of justice for vast numbers of people.

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And people Ag deserve to be treated fairly,

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but yet efficiently in this scheme.

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So it's designed to get agencies

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to take a look at this process,

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see whether they could really make it both more fair,

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but also more efficient.

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