Government agencies are given the authority to make certain decisions in certain circumstances. The government gives agencies authority over certain matters by passing laws establishing the agency and setting out the decisions the agency can make and how those decisions must be reached. Agencies can only deal with matters that they are authorized to deal with and even then there are rules that govern how decisions must be made.
The type of decision must be one that the agency has the authority to make. The decisions an agency has the authority to make are determined by the laws that set up the agency. For example, an agency established to determine if workers are entitled to compensation for injuries they sustained on the job could not decide whether a worker should receive social assistance.
The way the agency made the decision must be authorized by the law setting it up. When agencies are created, they are given discretion to make decisions. If that discretion is not used properly, an agency’s decision could be considered unauthorized. There are a number of ways that discretion can be improperly used by an agency.
An agency cannot...
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