After a hearing has closed, who may order it reopened, and what conditions does the provision attach to that decision?
General information · Not legal advice
Material to check
In a practice file of this kind, we read the hearing record and other papers the agency received under the preceding provision, any material that reached the agency after the hearing closed, and the papers up to the disposition, to see whether new circumstances were discovered before the disposition was made.
These are types of material to look for, not evidence already verified by PRO SE.
Where readings differ
One reading treats this as the agency's own discretionary power: once the hearing has been closed and up to the time it makes the disposition, the administrative agency may, where it recognises that new circumstances have been found and that reopening is necessary, send back the hearing record and other papers and order the hearing reopened, with the rule referred to in the provision applying by reference.
Another reading stresses the conditions the provision attaches to that discretion: the power is open only where new circumstances are discovered between the close of the hearing and the disposition, so a matter that came to light after the disposition falls outside it, and the provision leaves open what counts as a new circumstance.
Your judgment
When the agency recognises that reopening is necessary, what in the file shows which matter it relied on as the new circumstance?
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 change the window in which reopening may be ordered, or if a court decision explains what counts as a newly discovered circumstance or how the referenced rule applies on reopening.