Adjudication is a process that “investigates, declares and enforces liabilities as they stand on present or past facts and under laws supposed to already exist. That is the purpose and end.” The APA provides that any proceeding that results in an order is an adjudication. Order has a negative and very broad definition. An order is all actions, including licensing, that are not rulemaking. As a result, a great number of agency actions are considered adjudications. These are examples of agency actions that are “adjudications”:

A proceeding involving an agency’s charge that a person or business has violated a regulation or a statute is an adjudication. The issuance, suspension, or revocation of a permit or license. The process used to determine whether a person is entitled to a benefit or award. In some circumstances, the process used to discipline or fire a public employee. There is no uniform method of adjudication.