Consent decrees are agreements made between parties and presented to a court for official decree. They are used to conclude civil and criminal cases, and the court monitors the defendant’s actions to ensure compliance. Consent decrees are different from settlements and are often used in cases involving government agencies and private organizations. They cannot be challenged unless there is evidence of fraud. Consent decrees are required in class actions and antitrust lawsuits, and are the only mechanism through which the EPA can regulate Superfund site cleanup.
The two main types of consent decrees are those issued when the defendants are governments or their agencies, and those issued when large private organizations, such as corporations, are involved. Consent decrees are one of the ways judges conclude civil cases and some criminal proceedings; other ways include issuing judgments in civil cases and passing sentences on convicted defendants in criminal trials. Unlike other declarations and judgments issued by a court, consent decrees are made by the parties, not by the judge. These decrees cannot be challenged unless there is evidence of fraud.
A consent decree is an agreement that is reached between the parties and presented to the court, which reviews it and issues it as an official decree. When a court issues a consent decree, it becomes an ongoing participant in the case and regularly monitors the defendant’s actions to ensure that the promises in the decree are kept. Consent decrees differ from settlements in three ways: settlements are usually private and confidential between the parties, the case is usually dismissed as a condition of the defendant’s settlement, and the court is not involved in executing the settlement.
The use of consent decrees expanded dramatically in the late 20th century as US government agencies sued state and local governments and their agencies for failure to comply with certain acts of Congress. There has been no substantive dispute over the facts of the cases and the defendants agreed to pass the decrees to avoid heavy fines. Defendants pledged to certain goals over time to comply with the law, often promising certain disbursements as part of the trial.
The other type of consent decree is issued when the defendant is a private organization, such as a corporation. The plaintiffs in these cases are usually government agencies, such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in the United States, suing to enforce compliance with a statute or regulation. Cases initiated by the EPA involving pollution, for example, are often resolved by a permit order in which the company agrees to stop its polluting behavior and clean up itself. When the EEOC sues an employer to correct a pattern of discriminatory hiring behavior, it will often seek a consent decree that sets goals and standards. In both cases, the judge supervises the work and progress of the defendant and, if necessary, intervenes immediately to enforce the decree.
Class actions filed in federal court, and antitrust lawsuits filed by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), can only be resolved by consent decrees. They are required because in both cases judges have a statutory duty to determine whether the terms are fair and reasonable; in the latter, the judge must also determine whether the terms of the agreement between the parties favor the public interest. Consent decrees are also the only mechanism through which the EPA can regulate the final stage of any Superfund site cleanup.
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