New York Codes, Rules and Regulations › Title 9 - EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT › Subtitle A - Governor's Office › Chapter I - Executive Orders › Part 4 - Executive Orders (Mario M. Cuomo) › Section 4.131 - Executive order no. 131: establishing administrative adjudication plans

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 28, July 10, 2024
WHEREAS, administrative adjudication was developed to
					 provide expert, efficient, timely and fair resolution of claims, rights and
					 disputes before state agencies;
WHEREAS, administrative adjudication often addresses
					 complex scientific, technical, financial, medical, legal and related issues
					 under the jurisdiction of state agencies with specialized knowledge;
WHEREAS, administrative adjudication should be a more
					 flexible alternative to, rather than a duplication of, the civil and criminal
					 court system;
WHEREAS, administrative adjudication must meet due process
					 standards and should resolve disputes in a manner that is fair and appears fair
					 to the public;
WHEREAS, the fairness of administrative adjudication and
					 the appearance of fairness are particularly important when a state agency is a
					 party to the administrative proceeding; and
WHEREAS, to assure expert, efficient, timely and fair
					 adjudications, hearing officers who preside at administrative hearings should
					 be knowledgeable, competent, impartial, objective and free from inappropriate
					 influence;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, Mario M. Cuomo, Governor of the State of
					 New York, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and Laws
					 of the State of New York, do hereby order as follows:
I. Definitions
A. The term "agency" shall mean any
				  department, board, bureau, commission, division, office, council, committee or
				  officer of the state authorized by law to make final decisions in adjudicatory
				  proceedings but shall not include the governor, agencies created by interstate
				  compact or international agreement, the Division of Military and Naval Affairs
				  to the extent it exercises its responsibility for military and naval affairs,
				  the Division of State Police, the identification and intelligence unit of the
				  Division of Criminal Justice Services, the Division for Youth, the State
				  Insurance Fund, the Workers' Compensation Board, the State Division of Parole,
				  the Department of Correctional Services, the State Ethics Commission, the State
				  Education Department and the Division of Tax Appeals.
B. The term "hearing officer" shall mean a
				  person designated and empowered by an agency to conduct adjudicatory
				  proceedings as defined in this Order, including but not limited to hearing
				  officers, hearing examiners and administrative law judges; provided, however,
				  that such term shall not apply to the head of an agency or to members of a
				  state board or commission.
C. The
				  term "adjudicatory proceedings" shall mean any activity before an agency in
				  which a determination of legal rights, duties or privileges of named parties
				  thereto is required by law to be made only on a record and after an opportunity
				  for a formal adversarial hearing; provided, however, that such term shall not
				  apply to (1) a rule making proceeding, (2) an employee disciplinary action or
				  other personnel action pursuant to article five of the civil service law or (3)
				  representation proceedings conducted by the State Labor Relations Board and the
				  Public Employment Relations Board.