Exhaustion of remedies
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The doctrine of exhaustion of remedies prevents a litigant from seeking a remedy in a new court or jurisdiction until all claims or remedies have been exhausted (pursued as fully as possible) in the original one. The doctrine was originally created by case law based on the principles of comity.
In the United States, exhaustion of remedies is applied extensively in administrative law. Many cases adjudicated by Federal agencies have primary jurisdiction for cases involving the statutes or regulations which they administer. The doctrine of exhaustion of remedies prevents parties from seeking relief in the courts first.
In addition, exhaustion of remedies frequently affects cases of habeas corpus. Federal law, for example, prevents a petitioner from seeking federal relief where the state claims have not yet been exhausted. Generally, the exhaustion requirement permits state courts a “...meaningful opportunity to consider the allegations of legal error.”
The issue of exhaustion of remedies in a criminal law case was before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Harvey v. Horan.
