Ripe

Often, we like our fruits ripe. It’s the same with the courts. They want a case ripe before they rip it off (well, so to speak).

A case is ripe for judicial determination when there is nothing that remains but for the court to render judgment.

In the 2001 Bar Exams, the candidates were asked to give the two (2) requisites for the judicial review of administrative decisions/actions, that is when is an administrative action ripe for judicial review.

The textbook answer for the questions is:

"The following are the requisites:

1. The administrative actions has already been fully completed, and therefore, is a final agency action; and

2. The administrative remedies have been exhausted.

The first requisite refers to the Doctrine of Finality of Administrative Action and the second one refers to the Doctrine of Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies."

Of course, these doctrines admit exceptions. For easy digestion, we will take those exceptions in another post. In the meantime, eat your fruits.