(32) The ALJ ultimately issued a recommended order containing a conclusion of law that the grading sheets from the appellant's failed examination were hearsay that would not support a finding of fact as to what happened during the examination.
(39) Implicit in that proposal is the proposition that the agency faces irreparable harm because it cannot use its final order to reject a conclusion of law outside its substantive jurisdiction.
Similarly, when an agency voluntarily dismissed the action prior to the final hearing, it has been found that 1) the ALJ retained jurisdiction to enter an award of fees under this subsection where there was a then-pending motion for fees; 2) a full evidentiary hearing is not a prerequisite for an award of fees; and 3) the agency was unable to correct the ALJ's erroneous
conclusion of law because it lacked "substantial jurisdiction" over the issue of entitlement to fees.
In addition to interpretations of relevant authorities, a
conclusion of law may also set forth an administrative law judge's ultimate determination on whether a respondent committed the violations at issue in an administrative complaint.
[section] 456.073(5) ("The determination of whether or not a licensee has violated the laws and rules regulating the profession, including a determination of the reasonable standard of care is a
conclusion of law to be determined by the board, or department when there is no board, and is not a finding of fact to be determined by the administrative law judge.").
In Barfield, the court held that the agency did not have the authority to review a conclusion of law in which an administrative law judge (ALJ) labeled tendered evidence as hearsay.
In Deep Lagoon, the court held that the Department of Environmental Protection did not have the authority to review a conclusion of law in a recommended order which related to the application of collateral estoppel, stating:
A finding of fact may not be rejected based upon rejection of a conclusion of law. Id.
The agency must state its reasons with particularity, and must find that its substituted conclusion of law is at least as reasonable as the conclusion which is rejected.
Hopefully, the Court of Appeals will carefully analyze New Hampshire law to determine whether its attributes warrant the same
conclusion of law which the U.S.
Additionally, agencies are precluded from rejecting or modifying findings of fact based upon the rejection or modification of conclusions of law.(10) Simply, because an agency has the authority to reject or modify a
conclusion of law in a recommended order does not empower it to reject or modify a finding of fact related to that
conclusion of law, unless the agency adheres to the explicit standard for rejecting or modifying findings of fact.
It should contribute to ensuring the
conclusion of laws and decrees on the functioning of professional health insurance schemes and the medical assistance regime for economically-vulnerable groups, and the introduction of management structures for the system through a national health insurance agency and several specific funds and regimes.Finally, Euro 7 million will be directed towards a social housing programme and the replacement of shanty-towns in the context of a special national programme on combating insalubrious housing.