What enables an administrative agency to engage in adjudication?

An administrative agency is enabled to engage in adjudication primarily through the investigation of compliance. This process involves the agency examining whether individuals or entities are following the laws and regulations that the agency oversees. When an agency conducts investigations to determine compliance, it often leads to disputes that require resolution, which is where adjudication comes into play.

Adjudication allows the agency to make determinations regarding these disputes, including enforcing compliance through hearings, orders, and sanctions. The agency’s findings from investigations provide the basis for its adjudicative actions, ensuring that decisions are grounded in actual circumstances and evidence collected during the investigation.

Other options, while potentially related to the functions of an administrative agency, do not directly enable adjudication in the same way that compliance investigations do. For instance, rulemaking authorization allows an agency to create regulations, but it does not directly involve resolving disputes or making specific determinations in individual cases. Judicial review approval pertains to the ability of courts to review agency decisions after adjudication has occurred, and public hearings may facilitate discussion and input but are not the mechanism by which an agency makes determinations in adjudication.