On what ground, and to whom, may an administrative appeal committee require participation in a pending appeal?
General information · Not legal advice
Material to check
In the practice file, we read the committee's record showing why it deemed participation necessary, and the paper identifying the third party or agency and the interest that party holds in the appeal's outcome. We also check the copy of the requirement sent out and any notice back on whether participation will follow.
These are types of material to look for, not evidence already verified by PRO SE.
Where readings differ
One reading treats the power as the committee's own, resting on no application by a party: where the committee deems it necessary, it may require a third party with an interest in the result of the administrative appeal, or an administrative agency, to participate in the hearing of that case. On receiving the requirement, the third party or agency must notify the committee, without delay, whether it will participate.
Another reading stresses that the provision writes a requirement the committee 'may' issue, so the committee retains the choice whether to issue it at all, and nothing in the provision compels a required third party to participate rather than decline by its notice. What the committee must record to show that it found the participation necessary is left open.
Your judgment
How can the file show that the third party's interest in the outcome of the appeal was real and not merely asserted?
PRO SE does not make this decision or keep a case record on this public site.When to reconsider
We look at this again if the provision is amended to turn the requirement into a duty, or if a court decision explains what the committee must record to show that it found participation necessary.