5 U.S.C. § 703
Section 703 · Form and venue of proceeding
Amended 2 times on record
Applied in 337 court decisions — leading case Immigration & Naturalization Service v. Doherty (1992)
Most recently applied in McLaughlin Chiropractic Associates, Inc. v. McKesson Corp. (June 2025)
Applied most in the District Circuit Circuit (43 decisions)
Cases citing this section usually also cite 5 U.S.C. § 702 · 5 U.S.C. § 706 · 28 U.S.C. § 1331
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
The form of proceeding for judicial review is the special statutory review proceeding relevant to the subject matter in a court specified by statute or, in the absence or inadequacy thereof, any applicable form of legal action, including actions for declaratory judgments or writs of prohibitory or mandatory injunction or habeas corpus, in a court of competent jurisdiction. If no special statutory review proceeding is applicable, the action for judicial review may be brought against the United States, the agency by its official title, or the appropriate officer. Except to the extent that prior, adequate, and exclusive opportunity for judicial review is provided by law, agency action is subject to judicial review in civil or criminal proceedings for judicial enforcement.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Standard changes are made to conform with the definitions applicable and the style of this title as outlined in the preface to the report.
Amendments
1976—Pub. L. 94–574 provided that if no special statutory review proceeding is applicable, the action for judicial review may be brought against the United States, the agency by its official title, or the appropriate officer as defendant.