Hearing (law) - Definition and Overview

In law, a hearing is a proceeding before a court or other decisionmaking body or officer. A hearing is generally distinguished from a trial in that it is usually shorter and often less formal.

During a hearing the decisionmaking body typically hears evidence and or arguments.

In the United States, one aspect of the "Due Process Revolution" is that many administrative decisions that were once made much less formally must now be preceded by a hearing. An important step in this development was the Supreme Court decision in Goldberg v. Kelly, 397 U.S. 254 (1970). There the Court held that an agency could not terminate a recipient's welfare benefits without a pre-termination hearing. The decision also illustrated that what constitutes a "hearing" can depend on the context. In Goldberg, the goal of a speedy decision was held to "justify the limitation of the pre-termination hearing to minimum procedural safeguards," which included such basic matters as the right to appear and to cross-examine witnesses, but did not include "a complete record and a comprehensive opinion".

See also

• Preliminary hearing
• Evidentiary hearing
• jury trial
• Trial by ordeal
• Due process