268
Opinion of the Court
petitioners could assert a claim under § 11705(b)(3) before payment, but after their shipments were delivered.
Second, respondents contend that the doctrine of primary jurisdiction requires petitioners initially to present their unreasonable-rate claims to the ICC, rather than to a court. That reflects a mistaken understanding of primary jurisdiction, which is a doctrine specifically applicable to claims properly cognizable in court that contain some issue within the special competence of an administrative agency. It requires the court to enable a "referral" to the agency, staying further proceedings so as to give the parties reasonable opportunity to seek an administrative ruling.3 See Western Pacific, 352 U. S., at 63-64; Ricci v. Chicago Mercantile Exchange, 409 U. S. 289, 291, 302 (1973); Port of Boston Marine Terminal Assn. v. Rederiaktiebolaget Transatlantic, 400 U. S. 62, 65, 68 (1970). Referral of the issue to the administrative agency does not deprive the court of jurisdiction; it has discretion either to retain jurisdiction or, if the parties would not be unfairly disadvantaged, to dismiss the case
3 "Referral" is sometimes loosely described as a process whereby a court refers an issue to an agency. See, e. g., 28 U. S. C. § 1336. But the ICA (like most statutes) contains no mechanism whereby a court can on its own authority demand or request a determination from the agency; that is left to the adversary system, the court merely staying its proceedings while the shipper files an administrative complaint under § 11701(b). See § 11705(c)(1) (second sentence). Use of the term "referral" to describe this process seems to have originated in Western Pacific, which asserted that, where issues within the special competence of an agency arise, "the judicial process is suspended pending referral of such issues to the administrative body for its views." United States v. Western Pacific R. Co., 352 U. S. 59, 64 (1956). At the conclusion of that passage, the Western Pacific Court cited General American Tank Car Corp. v. El Dorado Terminal Co., 308 U. S. 422, 433 (1940), which in turn cited Mitchell Coal & Coke Co. v. Pennsylvania R. Co., 230 U. S. 247 (1913). Mitchell Coal spelled out the actual procedure contemplated, holding that further action by the district court should "be stayed so as to give the plaintiff a reasonable opportunity within which to apply to the Commission for a ruling as to the reasonableness of the practice," id., at 267.
Page: Index Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 NextLast modified: October 4, 2007