User:Abbottportraits/sandbox

Overview
The primary jurisdiction doctrine (also known as the doctrine of "prior resort" or "preliminary jurisdiction" ) is a judicial doctrine whereby a court tends to favor allowing an agency an initial opportunity to decide an issue in a case in which the court and the agency have concurrent jurisdiction.

It is the principle that the courts can not or will not determine a controversy involving a question which is within the jurisdiction of an administrative tribunal, prior to the decision of that question by the administrative tribunal:

1) where the case demands the exercise of administrative discretion, requiring the special knowledge, experience, and services of the administrative tribunal, to determine technical and intricate matters of fact; and

2) where uniformity of ruling is essential to comply with the purposes of the regulatory statute administered.

Exemplary Caselaw
In Abilene, the Supreme Court explained that Article III adjudication was inappropriate in determining the highly technical matter of reasonable shipping rates and that the matter was better resolved through administrative adjudication through the ICC. The Court explained
 * . . . unless all courts reached an identical conclusion, a uniform standard of rates in the future would be impossible, as the standard would fluctuate and vary, dependent upon the divergent conclusions reached as to reasonableness by the various courts called upon to consider the subject as an original question.