Legal Memorandum: Doctrine of Primary Jurisdiction in MA

Issue: Under Massachusetts law, how does the doctrine of ‘primary jurisdiction’ affect a court’s review of cases involving administrative regulations in the Department of Industrial Accidents?

The general rule is that the court must be careful not to invade the province of an administrative agency before it has commenced to exercise its authority in any particular case, because judicial interference would transfer to the courts a matter entrusted to the agency by the Legislature and result in the substitution of the court’s judgment for that of the agency.  Wilczewski v. Comm’r of the Dep’t of Envtl. Quality Eng’g, 404 Mass. 787, 793 (1989 TA l "Wilczewski v. Commissioner of the Dep’t of Envtl. Quality Eng’g, 404 Mass. 787 (1989" s "Wilczewski v. Commissioner of the Dep’t of Envtl. Quality Eng’g (1989" c 1 ).  The doctrine of primary jurisdiction involves allowing completion of the administrative process before permitting judicial review in order to allow the agency a full and fair opportunity to apply its expertise to the statutory scheme it is charged with enforcing and to spare the judiciary the burden of reviewing administrative proceedings in piecemeal fashion.  Walpole v. Secretary of the Executive Office of Envtl. Affairs, 405 Mass. 67, 72 (1989) TA l "Walpole v. Secretary of the Executive Office of Envtl. Affairs, 405 Mass. 67 (1989)" s "Walpole v. Secretary of the Exec. Office of Envtl. Affairs (1989)" c 1 ; Leahy v. Local 1526, 399 Mass. 341, 346 (1987) TA l "Leahy v. Local 1526, 399 Mass. 341 (1987)" s "Leahy v. Local 1526 (1987)" c 1 .  The doctrine of primary jurisdiction applies to regulatory matters specifically entrusted to a particular agency and […]