Adjudication

Adjudication is the legal process by which an arbiter or judge reviews evidence and argumentation including legal reasoning set forth by opposing parties or litigants to come to a decision which determines rights and obligations between the parties involved. Three types of disputes are resolved through adjudication:

1. Disputes between private parties, such as individuals or corporations.
2. Disputes between private parties and public officials.
3. Disputes between public officials or public bodies.

Other meanings

Adjudication can also be the process (in television game shows and the like) by which a winner is found.

In Healthcare

Claims adjudication in health insurance refers to the determination of a member's payment, or financial responsibility, after a medical claim is applied to the member's insurance benefits.

Pertaining to Security Clearances

Adjudication is the process directly following a background investigation where the investigation results are reviewed to determine if a candidate should be awarded a security clearance.

From the United States Department of the Navy Central Adjudication Facility: "Adjudication is the review and consideration of all available information to ensure an individual's loyalty, reliability, and trustworthiness are such, that entrusting an individual with national security information or assigning an individual to sensitive duties is clearly in the best interest of national security."

Referring to a Minor

Referring to a minor, the term adjudicated refers to children that are under a court's jurisdiction usually as a result of having engaged in delinquent behavior and not having a legal guardian that could be entrusted with being responsible for him or her.

Different states have different processes for declaring a child as adjudicated.

• The Arizona State Legislature' has this definition:

"Dually adjudicated child" means a child who is found to be dependent or temporarily subject to court jurisdiction pending an adjudication of a dependency petition and who is alleged or found to have committed a delinquent or incorrigible act.
[1]* The 'Illinois General Assembly' has this definition:

"Adjudicated" means that the Juvenile Court has entered an order declaring that a child is neglected, abused, dependent, a minor requiring authoritative intervention, a delinquent minor or an addicted minor. [2]

In Australia

In Victoria

Adjudication[3] is a relatively new process introduced by the Government of Victoria in Australia, to allow for the rapid determination of progress claims under building contracts or sub-contracts and contracts for the supply of goods or services in the building industry. This process was designed to ensure cash flow to businesses in the building industry, without parties getting tied up in lengthy and expensive litigation or arbitration. It is regulated by the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 2002.

Builders, sub-contractors and suppliers need to carefully choose a nominating authority to which they make an adjudication application. Some nominating authorities even nominate building consultants (many of whom do not even have any tertiary qualifiations) who may charge $350.00 or more per hour and then may reach the wrong decision, which is not given to the claimant until the building consultant's fees (often many thousands of dollars) have been paid.

In Queensland

The Building and Construction Industry Payments Act 2004 (BCIPA) came into effect in Queensland in October, 2004. Through a statuatory-based process known as adjudication a claimant can seek to resolve payment on account disputes. The act covers construction, and related supply of goods and services, contracts, whether written or verbal. BCIPA is regulated by the Building and Construction Industry Payments Agency, a branch of the Queensland Building Services Authority.

Further reading

• Romauld Andrew, Users' Guide to Adjudication in Victoria (Anstat 2004)
• Alexander Bickel, The Least Dangerous Branch: The Supreme Court at the Bar of Politics, 2nd ed. (Yale University Press, 1986).
• Erwin Chemerinsky, Constitutional Law: Principles and Policies (Aspen Publishers, 2006).
• Ronald Dworkin, Taking Rights Seriously (Harvard University Press, 2005, originally 1977).
• Conor Gearty, Principles of Human Rights Adjudication (Oxford University Press, 2005).
• Michael J. Gorr and Sterling Harwood, eds., Controversies in Criminal Law: Philosophical Essays on Responsibility and Procedure (Westview Press, 1992).
• Michael J. Gorr and Sterling Harwood, eds., Crime and Punishment: Philosophic Explorations (Wadsworth Publishing Co., 2000; originally Jones and Bartlett Publishers, 1996).
• H.L.A. Hart, The Concept of Law (Oxford University Press, 1961).
• Sterling Harwood, Judicial Activism: A Restrained Defense (Austin & Winfield Publishers, 1993).
• Allan C. Hutchinson, It's All in the Game: A Nonfoundationalist Account of Law and Adjudication (Duke University Press, 2000).
• David Lyons, Ethics and the Rule of Law (Cambridge University Press, 1984).
• David Lyons, Moral Aspects of Legal Theory (Cambridge University Press, 1993).
• John T. Noonan and Kenneth I. Winston, eds., The Responsible Judge: Readings in Judicial Ethics (Praeger Publishers, 1993).
• Kathleen M. Sullivan and Gerald Gunther, Constitutional Law, 15th ed. (Foundation Press, 2004).
• Harry H. Wellington, Interpreting the Constitution: The Supreme Court and the Process of Adjudication (Yale University Press, 1992).

See also

• Administrative law
• Alternative dispute resolution (eg. Arbitration, Mediation)
• Collateral estoppel
• Dispute resolution (eg. Lawsuit)
• Jurisprudence
• Res judicata