Who may carry out evidence gathering for an administrative appeals committee under the Administrative Appeals Act, and what must that person do when facing a party or related person?
General information · Not legal advice
Material to check
For this practice exercise, we read the committee's papers recording why evidence was needed to hear the case and whether it acted on its own initiative or on an application, any request the committee sent to another agency, and the record of the identification shown when a party was questioned.
These are types of material to look for, not evidence already verified by PRO SE.
Where readings differ
One reading takes the covered paragraphs together: where the committee needs evidence for hearing the case, it may gather evidence itself, on its own initiative or on a party's application, and it may also commission officials of the administrative agency it belongs to, or of another administrative agency, to carry out that evidence gathering for it.
Another reading focuses on who appears before a party or related person: whoever carries out the evidence gathering must carry an identification showing their status and show it to the party or related person, and the provision says parties and related persons must cooperate sincerely, but it sets out no consequence where they do not.
Your judgment
Where an official of another agency questioned a party at the party's residence, how should the file show that the committee commissioned them and that they showed their identification?
PRO SE does not make this decision or keep a case record on this public site.When to reconsider
We revisit this card if the provision is amended to change who may carry out evidence gathering, or if a decision explains what the duty to cooperate sincerely requires of a party or related person.