Collective Decision-Making and Administrative Justice

This chapter considers how administrative agencies in different countries use aggregate procedures to hear common claims brought by large groups of people. In many countries, administrative agencies promise each individual a ‘day in court’ to appear before a neutral decision-maker and receive a reasoned decision based on the factual record they develop. A handful of US and other countries’ administrative hearing programmes, however, have quietly bucked this trend—using class actions, statistical sampling, agency restitution, public inquiries, ‘test case’ proceedings, and other forms of mass adjudication to resolve disputes involving large groups of people. This chapter examines how administrative agencies can more effectively resolve common disputes with aggregate procedures. Aggregate procedures offer administrative agencies several benefits, including: 1) efficiently creating ways to pool information about recurring problems and enjoin systemic harms; 2) achieving greater equality in outcomes than individual adjudication; and 3) securing legal and expert assistance at critical stages in the process. By charting how administrative systems in different countries aggregate cases, we hope to show that collective hearing procedures can form an integral part of the adjudicatory process, while serving several different models of administrative justice.

Ochrona jednostki w postępowaniu o wywłaszczenie nieruchomości

The Constitution of the Republic of Poland, in Art. 21, par. 2, permits constitutional expropriation only if this is made for public purposes and with just compensation. It is the highest degree of interference in the ownership of the individual and, therefore, it is important to ensure that the proceedings which are legally carried out implement the basic principles of the administrative procedure and are run in accordance with the provisions of the Act on Real Estate Management. Due to the guarantee of protection of the individual, special attention should be focused on the conditions determining the initiation and conduct of expropriation proceedings in the form of public purpose execution, negotiations to conduct an administrative hearing, determination of “just” compensation, and return of property in cases specified in the Act.

Report Writing and Testimony

This chapter focuses on report writing and testimony as part of disability evaluation. More specifically, it explains how to organize a report, what information should (and should not) be included, the required level of detail, and the effective response to referral questions. It also highlights the importance of accurate communication of information. The chapter first discusses the purpose of a written report in evaluations of disability and the organizational structure of the forensic report before turning to the information that must be included in the evaluation report. It presents an example of a format divided into the following sections: introduction, procedures, summary of records reviewed, behavioral observations and mental status data, clinical interview, data from psychological or neuropsychological testing, collateral contacts, formulation of opinions, and answers to referral questions. Finally, the chapter describes how the written report can form the basis for testimony in court or in an administrative hearing.