Review and Appeal

The review and appeal processes for regulatory decisions includes decision making processes, choices of regulatory instruments, stakeholder and government roles in regulatory decision making, mechanisms for appeal of regulatory decisions, and alternative dispute resolution processes. Regulatory instruments include legislation and licenses, the choice of which is often determined by the legal traditions of the country and the methods by which these instruments can be changed. For example, the regulatory process is politicized if a license is the regulatory instrument and the ministry can change the license at will.

In some countries, regulatory decisions are subject to ministry review, which can also politicize regulation. To avoid such situations, some countries provide only judicial review of regulatory decisions or establish administrative tribunals. Some countries allow courts to overrule the regulator only on legal or procedural grounds and not on the substantive grounds of the regulatory decision itself. In some situations legal processes can delay regulatory decisions to such an extent that the decisions cannot be made in a timely fashion, which degrades sector performance. To avoid such delays, some countries use alternative dispute resolutions procedures, such as binding arbitration, to speed resolution of conflicts.