The West German Administrative Procedure Act: A Study in Administrative Decision Making

This Article examines the West German Administrative Procedure Act ( VwVfG ), which forms an essential element in the German model of administrative decision-making and provides valuable insight into the nature of administrative decision-making in Germany. The first section of this Article discusses the history surrounding codification of administrative procedure in Germany, the subject and scope of the VwVfG, and the role of the VwVfg plays within the overall German administrative law structure. The second section identifies the four procedural mechanisms provided for by the VWVfG to reach administrative decisions. The final section reviews administrative and judicial remedies available to contest final administrative acts

On Pressing McNollgast to the Limits: The Problem of Regulatory Costs

The rationale for and the utility of the procedures that an administrative agency must follow in order to adopt rules are discussed. The Administrative Procedure Act\u27s rulemaking procedure is examined for cost effectiveness

Home Rules: The Case for Local Administrative Procedure

Administrative law is critical to the modern practice of governance. Administrative rules fill the gaps in statutes left open by lawmakers, allow agencies to exercise legislative grants of authority and discretion, and give agencies with subject-matter expertise and frontline experience the opportunity to promulgate detailed standards and requirements in their designated issue areas. Adjudication allows an agency to dispose of matters and disputes formally before it, whether under its rules or another source of law. While agencies at every level of government—federal, state, and local— engage in administrative action, legal scholarship on administrative law is almost exclusively focused on the federal realm, which is shaped by the Administrative Procedure Act. States can look to a Model State Administrative Procedure Act drafted by experts at the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws, a document that was originally promulgated around the same time as the federal Administrative Procedure Act, for guidance on ordering the activities of their agencies. Local governments, however, have far fewer resources to draw upon. This Note argues that the time has come for localities to embrace the codification of administrative procedures. The governments and agencies of localities have always played a prominent role in the everyday lives of residents, as well as regional and national economic structures, and their work will benefit from procedural statutes. Cities, in particular, have taken on an increasingly central role as political agents and policy entrepreneurs and this shift underscores the need for greater procedural guidance. To make the case, this Note briefly examines the purposes and history of modern administrative law, analyzes approaches taken by exemplar cities, lays out and probes some of arguments for and against more rigorous procedures at the local level, and proposes three methods to help localities and states undertake this project

The Legislative History of the Administrative Procedure Act

During the twentieth century, one of the most important developments in American government and politics was the expanding power of administrative agencies of all kinds. The enactment of the Administrative Procedure Act (“APA”) of 1946 was the crucial event in the course of this expansion. The APA was the culmination of long-term efforts to regulate the decision-making of administrative agencies, and it reflected a significant political compromise. This paper traces the outlines of that reflection. In Part I, it reviews the political background leading up to the proposal of the legislation in the 79th Congress that became the APA. In Part II, it reviews the circumstances surrounding how the APA developed and was eventually enacted during 1945 and 1946. Part III discusses the evolution of the definitions of the crucial statutory terms that categorized agency and culminated in Section 2 of the APA. Parts IV-VI describe how the APA regulated agency rulemaking, agency adjudication, and the judicial review of agency action respectively

Brief Amici Curiae of Intellectual Property Professors in Support of Petitoner

Congress enacted the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) in 1946 as a comprehensive statute to regulate the field of federal administrative law. In holding that the PTO Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences is not subject to the standards of judicial review set forth in the APA, the [Zurko] decision isolates patent law from the rest of administrative law and undermines the APA’s goal of achieving consistency and uniformity in federal administrative law

Reforming the Administrative Procedure Act: Democracy Index Rulemaking

This Essay argues that the current regime of administrative law should be changed by creating legal incentives for agencies to involve the public in the rulemaking process via democracy index rulemaking. Democracy index rulemaking would create a clear incentive for agencies to involve the public by requiring that the more participation that occurred during the rulemaking process, the more deference that such an agency rule would receive in court. An agency could receive this deference by using normal notice and comment procedures and receiving a large number of relevant and non-repetitive comments on a proposed rule, with the precise amount of deference then tied to the number of comments received. Alternatively, the agency could use a special procedure, called deliberative notice and comment, which would involve jury deliberations (involving a set of juries composed of stakeholders as well as of members of the general public) regarding the proposed administrative rule. An agency using this special democratic process would guarantee itself deference. Either way, democracy index rulemaking would create a system that would encourage public participation, with all of its virtues, while at the same time avoiding many of the negatives of other regimes of public participation

United States Tort Liability for War Crimes Abroad: An Assessment and Recommendation

Bullock proposes that victims of war crimes be permitted to recover against the US government through administrative procedures similar to those of the Foreign Claims Act

REVOCATION OF ADMINISTRATIVE ACT

Because the revocation is totally specific for administrative law principles, I chose to talk about in this study and its impact on the cancellation of administrative acts. Revocation will be explored, in terms of the authorities which it may provide but also of the effects caused.It also would examine if revocation has a legal basis, as well as real cases to provide the impact of this principle in administrative law

Case Note: Transportation Law - Urban Mass Transportation Act - The Absence of Statutory Provisions Relating to Standing and Judicial Review Does Not Preclude a Claimant from Seeking Relief in Federal Court

This case note by Terry L. Barnich analyzes the Seventh Circuit\u27s decision in Bradford School Bus Transit, Inc. v. Chicago Transit Authority, 537 F.2d 943 (7th Cir. 1976), cert denied, 97 S. Ct. 797 (1977). The plaintiff, a private bus company, sought a declaration that the Chicago Transit Authority violated section 1602(a) of the Urban Mass Transportation Act when it competed with the private bus line for a contract with the Chicago Board of Education. The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois declared that the plaintiff lacked standing under the Act and dismissed the complaint. The Seventh Circuit held that plaintiff had sufficient standing to sue under the Act. It concluded that plaintiff had adequately alleged an unjust injury due to agency action, and had sufficiently demonstrated that its interests were protected by the Act\u27s relevant provision. Nevertheless, it refused to review the administrative action because complaint procedures and remedies were available and plaintiff was required to exhaust those administrative remedies