ripeness doctrine
Defined in 1 dictionary — Case Law
Definitions from Case Law
From 387 U.S. 136 - Abbott Laboratories v. Gardner · 1967Most cited · 13,798 citing opinions
Its basic rationale is to prevent the courts, through avoidance of premature adjudication, from entangling themselves in abstract disagreements over administrative policies, and also to protect the agencies from judicial interference until an administrative decision has been formalized and its effects felt in a concrete way by the challenging parties. The problem is best seen in a twofold aspect, requiring us to evaluate both the fitness of the issues for judicial decision and the hardship to the parties of withholding court consideration.