ADJUDICATIVE FACTS
Factual matters concerning the parties to an administrative proceeding as contrasted with legislative facts, which are general and usually do not touch individual questions of particular parties to a proceeding. Facts that concern a person’s motives and intent, as contrasted with general policy issues. Those facts that must be found BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT by the trier of fact before there can be a conviction.
Adjudicative facts, of which a trial court may
take notice if a fact is not subject to reasonable dispute,
are those to which law is applied in the
process of adjudication; they are facts that, in a
jury case, normally go to the jury.
The role of a U.S. court is to resolve the dispute
that has brought the parties before it.
Determining what happened to whom, when
and how it happened, and what the result is or
will be, is part of the adjudicative process by
which the court reaches that resolution. These
determinations establish the adjudicative facts
of the dispute.
Adjudicative facts differ from ordinary facts
in that they are considered facts only if the court
recognizes and accepts them. For example, a witness
may testify that she saw the defendant’s car
parked at a specific place at a specific time.
These are the facts as she recalls them. However,
the court may reject her account and instead
accept another witness’s testimony that the
defendant was driving that same car in another
part of town at the same time. The second
witness’s account will therefore become part of
the adjudicative facts of the case, and the first
witness’s recollection will be considered immaterial.
Adjudicative facts are specific and unique to
a particular controversy. For this reason, the fact
determination in one case is not controlling in
other similar cases, even if all the cases arose
from the same incident. Adjudicative facts differ
from legislative facts, which are general and can
be applied to any party in a similar situation. For
example, the facts used by a court to determine
the legality of a tax increase levied against a single
taxpayer would be adjudicative facts particular
to that taxpayer’s case. By contrast, the facts
used to determine the legality of a general tax
increase levied against all the residents of a city
would be legislative in nature. Because facts can
be perceived and interpreted differently by different
people, the skillful lawyer is careful about
what facts to present and how to present them at
trial.
Adjudicative facts re-create the course of
events that led to the dispute. They may also predict
what will happen as a result. For example,
where one party is suing another for personal
injury, adjudicative facts will determine what
happened, who was at fault, and what redress is
appropriate for pain and suffering. Adjudicative
facts will further establish what lasting consequences,
such as lost future wages, the plaintiff is
likely to suffer and what compensation is fitting.
Adjudicative facts found by the court are
final and will not be reviewed on appeal except
in cases where it can be shown that the findings
were made on insubstantial evidence or were
clearly erroneous.
FURTHER READINGS
Carp, Robert A., and Ronald Stidham. 1990. The Judicial
Process in America. Washington, D.C.: Congressional
Quarterly Press.
Fraher, Richard M. 1987. “Adjudicative Facts, Non-evidence
Facts, and Permissible Jury Background Information.”
Indiana Law Journal 62 (spring).
