The Expanded Availability of Declaratory Statements

Declaratory judgments are a way for lawyers to clarify their client’s rights in court without a full trial. This can save time and money. But there’s a similar tool for when a client’s rights are decided by a state agency. It’s called a declaratory statement. A recent Florida court decision will make it easier to use this tool. Both tools are meant to help end disputes and are supposed to be used broadly. But there are differences in how they work and what they can do. Declaratory judgments can resolve disputes about contracts or laws, while declaratory statements are meant to be used more often, but they’ve been limited by court decisions. A declaratory statement is a legal document that gives an agency’s opinion on how a specific law or rule applies to a person’s unique situation. In the past, courts said that declaratory statements could only be used when the situation was completely unique and couldn’t apply to anyone else. This was because agencies are supposed to make rules that apply to everyone, and if a declaratory statement could apply to more than one person, it should be made into a rule instead. This made it really hard to get a declaratory statement, because almost any situation could apply to more than one person. In 1996, the law about how agencies can make rules and decisions changed. The courts started to look at whether these changes were being followed.

In one case, the court said that a decision about how public money is used shouldn’t be rejected just because it might affect other people too. The court said that the law requires the agency to tell people about these decisions, because the legislature knew that they would be important to more than just the person asking for the decision.

A few weeks later, another court said a decision was too broad and shouldn’t have been made. But one judge disagreed. Judge Cope believed that citizens should have easy access to get a clear answer from the government about how its rules apply to them. He argued that the law was meant to help anyone with a problem, not just one person. The court agreed with Judge Cope’s opinion in a case involving the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. The Florida Supreme Court made a decision that allows state agencies to issue declaratory statements in more situations. This means there will be more guidance and help from agencies when there are disputes. It’s a useful tool under the law to solve problems. Declaratory judgments and declaratory statements have a distinction when it comes to the requirement of a “case or controversy.” In a declaratory judgment case, there must be an actual dispute, and a court has to decide if there is a real need for a ruling. A similar requirement was found for declaratory statements in a court case called Couch v. State. The court said that a state agency shouldn’t issue a declaratory statement if the same issue is being decided in a lawsuit, because there is no real need for it in that situation. In a court case, the Florida Supreme Court made it easier for people to request a decision from a government agency about a legal or policy issue. This means that more people can get guidance on how state agencies make decisions. The ruling broadened access to a law that helps people understand how government agencies work. This column was written by the Administrative Law Section, with Dan R. Stengle as the chair and Robert C. Downie II as the editor. The goal of the section is to teach its members about the importance of serving the public, improving the way justice is handled, and advancing the field of law.

Source: https://www.floridabar.org/the-florida-bar-journal/the-expanded-availability-of-declaratory-statements/