618
Opinion of the Court
temptation to the average man as a judge . . . which might lead him not to hold the balance nice, clear and true . . . ." Ward, supra, at 60 (quoting Tumey, supra, at 532). Even appeal and a trial de novo will not cure a failure to provide a neutral and detached adjudicator. 409 U. S., at 61.
"[J]ustice," indeed, "must satisfy the appearance of justice, and this stringent rule may sometimes bar trial [even] by judges who have no actual bias and who would do their very best to weigh the scales of justice equally between contending parties." Marshall v. Jerrico, Inc., supra, at 243 (citations and internal quotation marks omitted). This, too, is no less true where a private party is given statutory authority to adjudicate a dispute, and we will assume that the possibility of bias, if only that stemming from the trustees' statutory role and fiduciary obligation, would suffice to bar the trustees from serving as adjudicators of Concrete Pipe's withdrawal liability.
2
The assumption does not win the case for Concrete Pipe, however, for a further strand of governing law has to be applied. Not all determinations affecting liability are adjudicative, and the " 'rigid requirements' . . . designed for officials performing judicial or quasi-judicial functions, are not applicable to those acting in a prosecutorial or plaintiff-like capacity." 446 U. S., at 248. Where an initial determination is made by a party acting in an enforcement capacity, due process may be satisfied by providing for a neutral adjudicator to "conduct a de novo review of all factual and legal issues." Cf. id., at 245; see also id., at 247-248, and n. 9; cf. Withrow v. Larkin, 421 U. S. 35, 58 (1975) ("Clearly, if the initial view of the facts based on the evidence derived from nonadversarial processes as a practical or legal matter foreclosed fair and effective consideration at a subsequent adversary hearing leading to ultimate decision, a substantial due process question would be raised").
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