A judge who oversees an administrative agency and makes decisions that the agency is responsible for is known as an administrative law judge. When the federal government or state governments establish certain programs, they also establish agencies to oversee them and to be in charge of enforcing laws, resolving disputes, and interpreting legislation. The Equal Opportunity Employment Commission, the Worker’s Compensation System, and the Environmental Protection Agency are all examples of such organizations. Within these agencies, an administrative law judge is responsible for resolving disputes and interpreting the law.
The branch of US law that regulates government agencies is known as administrative law. Each agency is given authority the government that established it. In other words, the government delegated certain powers to the agency, and the agency’s structure was determined the government.
Someone, or a group of people, must be in charge of interpreting laws or resolving disputes if the administrative agency is to do so. The government may designate who is responsible for resolving disputes, making decisions, and/or interpreting laws. The agency could also create its own internal governing structure.
The relevant administrative agency will often have one or more administrative law judges, regardless of who set up the specific structure. As a result, an administrative law judge will serve as a leader within the agency. The case will be argued in front of an administrative law judge when people break the laws that the agency is supposed to protect, or when there is a disagreement about the meaning of one of those laws.
In many jurisdictions, the Worker’s Compensation Board is vested with the authority to oversee a dispute between you and your employer’s insurer over a worker’s compensation claim. In some states, the dispute between the injured employee and the insurer is heard a panel of one or more people. Other states delegate the case to an administrative law judge, who will hear both sides’ arguments and decide whether they are correct.
If a question about the meaning of a law that an agency has the authority to enforce arises, an administrative law judge will address it and clarify the law. Equal opportunity laws, for example, prohibit discrimination. When it’s unclear whether an employer’s actions are illegal discrimination, an administrative law judge on the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission’s board can hear the case. The administrative law judge can make a decision and interpret the law to see if the discrimination was legal or not.