Opinion ID: 2521161
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Deference To The Decisions Of Administrative Agencies

Text: Ordinarily, deference will be given to decisions of administrative agencies acting within the realm of their expertise[.] Mahaùlepu v. Land Use Comm'n, 71 Haw. 332, 335, 790 P.2d 906, 908 (1990) (citation omitted). The rule of judicial deference, however, does not apply when the agency's reading of the statute contravenes the legislature's manifest purpose. In re Water Use Permit Applications, 94 Hawai`i 97, 145, 9 P.3d 409, 457 (2000) (citing Camara v. Agsalud, 67 Haw. 212, 216, 685 P.2d 794, 797 (1984), and State v. Dillingham Corp., 60 Haw. 393, 409, 591 P.2d 1049, 1059 (1979)). Consequently, we have not hesitated to reject an incorrect or unreasonable statutory construction advanced by the agency entrusted with the statute's implementation. Id.; see also Government Employees Ins. Co. v. Dang, 89 Hawai`i 8, 15, 967 P.2d 1066, 1073 (1998); In re Maldonado, 67 Haw. 347, 351, 687 P.2d 1, 4 (1984).