Proposed Federal Trade Commission Rules for Adjudicative Proceedings

Marcia Coyle at the National Law Journal has an article posted this morning about the Federal Trade Commission’s proposing “new rules to improve and streamline enforcement actions tried before administrative law judges” last Thursday.

Part 3 and sections of Part 4 of the Commission’s Rules of Practice concern the process of administrative adjudication at the agency. It is these that are being revised. ( Proposed Rules )

“The Part 3 process, ‘has long been criticized’ as being too protracted and leading to three undesirable consequences,” Coyle writes. “First, in merger cases, drawn-out proceedings may result in parties abandoning transactions before their merits can be adjudicated. Second, protracted Part 3 proceedings may lead to substantially increased litigation costs, both for the commission and for private parties. Third, protracted proceedings do not necessarily lead to decisions that are more just or fair.”

Interested parties may submit written comments electronically or in paper form, but should refer to “Parts 3 and 4 Rules of Practice Rulemaking- P072104” to facilitate the organization of comments.

The Federal Trade Commission, however, also notes that, “Because paper mail in the Washington area, and specifically to the FTC, is subject to delay due to heightened security screening, please consider submitting your comments in electronic form. Comments filed in electronic form should be submitted by using the following weblink: https://secure.commentworks.com/ftc-part3rules (and following the instructions on the web-based form). To ensure that the Commission considers an electronic comment, you must file it on the web-based form at the weblink:
https://secure.commentworks.com/ftc-part3rules . If this document appears at http://www.regulations.gov/search/index.jsp , you may also file an electronic comment through that website. The Commission will consider all comments that regulations.gov forwards to it. You may also visit the FTC website at www.ftc.gov to read this document and the news release describing it.”


Press Release

Current Rules of Practice for Adjudicative Proceedings (16 CFR Pt. 3)
Current Miscellaneous Rules ( 16 CFR Pt. 4 )