Opinion ID: 785931
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Motion for Judgment on the Administrative Record

Text: 26 Rule 56.1 of the Rules of the Court of Federal Claims (RCFC) provides for judgment on the administrative record, a procedural tool unique to the Court of Federal Claims. The rule was added to the RCFC in 1996; there is no counterpart in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Rule 56.1(a) specifies that a motion for judgment on the administrative record shall be treated in accordance with the rules governing motions for summary judgment, with the exception that any supplementation of the administrative record shall be by stipulation or by court order only. See Rose v. United States, 35 Fed. Cl. 510, 512 (1996); Nickerson v. United States, 35 Fed.Cl. 581, 588 (1996), aff'd, 113 F.3d 1255 (Fed.Cir.1997) (summary disposition). Thus judgment on the administrative record is appropriate when there are no issues of material fact in dispute and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Rose, 35 Fed. Cl. at 512. 27 As the Court of Federal Claims has observed, a motion for judgment on the administrative record is often an appropriate vehicle to scrutinize an agency's procurement actions because such cases typically involve interpretation of contract documents or regulations, thereby presenting no disputed issues of material fact. See Seattle Sec. Servs., Inc. v. United States, 45 Fed. Cl. 560, 566 (2000). Indeed, the central issue raised in the bid protest case before us relates to the correct interpretation of the solicitation issued by the USPS, which is a question of law. See Grumman Data Sys. Corp. v. Dalton, 88 F.3d 990, 997 (Fed.Cir.1996). 28 Since the Court of Federal Claims decides a motion for judgment on the administrative record by applying the summary judgment standard, it follows that we review the court's grant of that motion as we would a grant of a motion for summary judgment. In other words, assuming no disputed issues of material fact, we reapply the summary judgment standard in an independent review to determine whether the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. See JWK Int'l Corp. v. United States, 279 F.3d 985, 987 (Fed.Cir.2002). Thus, when reviewing a judgment in a bid protest case, our task is to address independently any legal issues, such as the correct interpretation of a solicitation, and then to determine whether there are any genuine issues of material fact as to whether the agency decision lacked a rational basis or involved a prejudicial violation of applicable statutes or regulations.