Board of examiners

“ The examination must be held upon such subjects as in the opinion of the board of examiners, with the approval of the Commission, the general nature of the business of the office and the special nature of the positions to be filled may require. In grading the competitors due weight must be given to the efficiency with which the several competitors shall have performed their duties in the office; but none who shall fail to attain a minimum standard of 75 per cent in the written examination shall be certified for promotion. ”

“ CUSTOMS RULE VII. Upon requisition of a nominating officer in any customs district the board of examiners thereof shall certify for reinstatement in any office under his jurisdiction, in a grade requiring no higher examination than the one in which he was formerly employed, any person who within one year next preceding the date of the requisition has, through no delinquency or misconduct, been separated from the classified service of said office. ”

“ The decision of the board is upon the individual: "Has he passed a satisfactory examination in a sufficient number of subjects?" and the board takes no account whatever of the opinions and certificates of school-authorities concerning the individual. A printed report is annually made by the board, showing the name of each person who obtained a certificate, the subjects in which he satisfied the examiners, and the school from which he came. The examinations are conducted in writing for all the subjects, but for a few subjects oral examinations are superadded. ”

“ Examiners from the staff of the board or of the federal reserve banks will, whenever desirable, be designated by the board to act with the examination staff of the State in order that uniformity in the standard of examination may be assured. ”

“ It permits agencies to use examiners to record testimony but not to evaluate it, and contains the rather obscure provision that an agency which reviews an examiner's report has 'all the powers which it would have in making the initial decision.' [27]
But this refusal to make mandatory the recommendations of the Attorney General's Committee should not be construed as a repudiation of them. Nothing in the statutes suggests that the Labor Board should not be influenced by the examiner's opportunity to observe the witnesses he hears and sees and the Board does not. ”

“ While the examiners and the representatives of the Safety Bureau were the only ones designated to ask questions directly of any witness, the Presiding Examiner, acting under instruction of the Board, announced at the opening of the hearing that any person who had any evidence, questions, or suggestions to present for consideration in the proceeding might submit them to the Examiners. ”

“ We find no warrant for imposing upon administrative agencies a stiffer rule, whereby examiners would be disentitled to sit because they ruled strongly against a party in the first hearing. The Board might have gone beyond the legal compulsions and ordered the new evidence to be heard before a new Examiner who could report with a mind wholly free from prior litigious embroilments. The Board might have been well advised also to allow greater leeway in admitting evidence not strictly relevant. It takes time to avoid even the appearance of grievances. ”

“ When an agency decides that a hearing examiner position should be filled by the promotion of one of its hearing examiners, the Commission will select the examiner who is to be promoted. To be eligible to compete for promotion, hearing examiners must be serving in the agency, in the area of competition designated by the Commission, under absolute appointments, in grades lower than the position to be filled. ”

“ Examiners shall be removable by the agency in which they are employed only for good cause established and determined by the Civil Service Commission (hereinafter called the Commission) after opportunity for hearing and upon the record thereof. ”

“ For each place outside of Washington where such examination is to be held the President will designate persons, to be, when practicable, suitable officers of the United States, who, together with such chief examiner, or some substituted departmental examiner from Washington to be sent in his place when such chief examiner can not attend, shall constitute the board for such examination; and by said persons, or a majority thereof, of whom such chief examiner or said substitute shall be one, such examinations shall be held and certified in a uniform manner ”

“ Congress intended to make hearing examiners 'a special class of semi-independent subordinate hearing officers' [3] by vesting control of their compensation, promotion and tenure in the Civil Service Commission to a much greater extent than in the case of other federal employees. ”

“ We accordingly recommend that a central Board should be constituted for conducting the examination of all candidates for the public service whom it may be thought right to subject to such a test. Such board should be composed of men holding an independent position, and capable of commanding general confidence ”

“ That same Commission was empowered to prescribe an examiner's compensation independently of recommendations or ratings by the agency in which the examiner worked. And to deprive regulatory agencies of all power to pick particular examiners for particular cases, § 11 of the Act commanded that examiners be 'assigned to cases in rotation so far as practicable * * *.' I agree with the District Court and the Court of Appeals that the regulations here sustained go a long way toward frustrating the purposes of Congress to give examiners independence. ”

“ As a practical matter, the Commission must always turn to the agency for advice on the number of examiners needed at the various levels. The statute declares that 'THERE SHALL BE APPOINTED BY AND FOR EACH agency an many qualified and competent examiners as may be necessary'. (Emphasis supplied.) It then puts sufficient responsibility in the Commission's hands to ensure independent judgments from the examiners. It does not reduce the responsibility of the agency to see that it has a sufficient number of competent examiners to handle its business properly. ”

“ The Board or an executive committee of the Board, or a duly constituted panel of the Board, shall have the right, in its discretion to call up for review any case decided by any department or agency board, or by any head of an employing loyalty board or regional loyalty department or agency, even though no appeal has been taken. ”

“ Acting under this statute, which was interpreted as intended to secure a system of just and effectual examinations under uniform supervision, a number of eminently competent persons were selected for the purpose, who entered with zeal upon the discharge of their duties, prepared with an intelligent appreciation of the requirements of the service the regulations contemplated, and took charge of the examinations, and who in their capacity as a board have been known as the "Civil Service Commission." ”

“ Provided that the Secretary and every objector and every person in regard to whose classification the objection has been made, shall be entitled to appear before the board concerned either in person or by counsel or attorney on his behalf, to cross-examine witnesses and to adduce such evidence as may be relevant to the matter before the board: Provided further that all sittings of a board shall be held in public or in camera as the person whose classification is in issue may elect. ”

“ It provided for three commissioners to be appointed by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, for a chief examiner, state boards of examiners, and minor officers. The commissioners were to aid the president in preparing rules to carry out the provisions of the law, which called for the classification of clerks and for open competitive examinations of a practical nature; if there were no competition, the commission should arrange for a non-competitive examination. ”

“ The various government boards of examiners act as technical advisory committees to the Office of Private Education and cooperate with the various institutions to coordinate government licensing examinations with teaching. ”

“ If other people come there and present facts as a matter of record, the Board can't entirely go outside of those facts and decide a case right out of the clear sky. If this organization wants to be effective, it ought to appoint a committee to present those things before that Board. ”

“ Let us say that the number of young men should be that of our Senatorial Districts, and that each Senator have the privilege of nominating a candidate for admission, subject, of course, to the decision of the Faculty when he should present himself. A Board of Examination should likewise be appointed, whose duty it should be to visit and examine the Institution, and to report annually upon its condition to the Governor. ”

“ There is no more reason for court review prior to an election than for court review prior to a hearing. But if subsequently the Board makes an order predicated upon the election, such as an order to bargain collectively with elected representatives, then the entire election procedure becomes part of the record upon which the order of the Board is based, and is fully reviewable by any aggrieved party in the Federal courts in the manner provided in section 10. And this review would include within its scope the action of the Board in determining the appropriate unit for purposes of the election. ”

“ The rules also provide for hearing before a trial examiner of causes initiated by the filing of charges before a regional director unless the cause is transferred for hearing before the Board in Washington. If the hearing is before an examiner he is to render an intermediate report containing findings of fact and recommendations as to the disposition of the cause, which are to be served upon the parties, and they are entitled to take exceptions to the intermediate report. ”

“ The Committee is empowered and required to ascertain the qualifications of all candidates. Id., § 6046. Under rules prescribed by the Board of Governors of the State Bar, an applicant before the Committee has 'the burden of proving that he is possessed of good moral character, of removing any and all reasonable suspicion of moral unfitness, and that he is entitled to the high regard and confidence of the public.' Id., Div. ”

“ It should be emphasized, moreover, that in contrast to the strictly appellate functions it exercises in other cases, the Appeal Board in handling conscientious objector claims is the first selective service board to receive the Department's recommendation, and is usually the only decision-making body to pass on the entire file. An opportunity for the registrant to reply is therefore the only means of insuring that this Board will have all of the relevant data. ”

“ When it does so, the function of the examining board is limited to determining whether the applicant complies with the requirements so declared. But the Legislature need not make this general finding. To determine the subjects of which one must have knowledge in order to be fit to practice dentistry, the extent of knowledge in each subject, the degree of skill requisite, and the procedure to be followed in conducting the examination-these are matters appropriately committed to an administrative board. ”

“ The training or normal establishment is instituted for the express purpose of indoctrinating the masters in the views prescribed by the Board. But the influence does not end here. By a system of examinations, conducted in connection with the inspection, the Board contrives to direct the studies and mould the train of thought of the masters. Their salaries are increased at the pleasure of the Board. A graduated system of promotion and a scale of rewards are established, dependent entirely on their recommending themselves to the inspectors. ”

“ Courts are expressly empowered to enforce, modify or set aside, in whole or in part, the Board's orders, except that the findings of the Board with respect to questions of fact, if supported by substantial evidence on the record considered as a whole, shall be conclusive. ”

“ At the third, two moderators of the year previous to the two last, or two examiners appointed by the Senate. The two first tables are chiefly allotted to the six first classes; the third, or largest, to the οἱ πολλοί.
The young men hear the propositions or questions delivered by the examiners; they instantly apply themselves; demonstrate, prove, work out and write down, fairly and legibly (otherwise their labour is of little avail) the answers required. All is silence; nothing heard save the voice of the examiners ”

“ In the work of holding the examinations it is aided by about 1300 local boards of examiners, which are its local representatives throughout the country and are located at the principal post offices, custom houses and other government offices, being composed of three or more Federal employees in those offices. About 50,000 persons annually compete in these examinations, and about 10,000 of those who are successful receive appointments through regular certification. ”

“ Congress has merely made it clear that a reviewing court is not barred from setting aside a Board decision when it cannot conscientiously find that the evidence supporting that decision is substantial, when viewed in the light that the record in its entirety furnishes, including the body of evidence opposed to the Board's view. ”