Nuger v. State Insurance Commissioner

207 A.2d 619, 238 Md. 55, 1965 Md. LEXIS 627
CourtCourt of Appeals of Maryland
DecidedMarch 9, 1965
Docket[No. 193, September Term, 1964.]
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 207 A.2d 619 (Nuger v. State Insurance Commissioner) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Maryland primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Nuger v. State Insurance Commissioner, 207 A.2d 619, 238 Md. 55, 1965 Md. LEXIS 627 (Md. 1965).

Opinion

OppBnhbimer, J.,

This is an appeal from a judgment of the Superior Court of Baltimore City affirming an administrative decision of the State Insurance Commissioner which revoked the qualifications of the appellants to engage in the insurance business in Maryland. The appellants contend that the Commissioner’s decision was unsupported by substantial evidence and against the weight of the evidence; that, as to two of the five charges made by the Commissioner, there was no hearing as provided by law; and that the Commissioner’s action was in excess of his statutory authority and jurisdiction.

Three hearings were held by the Commissioner. The first two took place on April 24, 1962 on separate charges against two of the appellants, Caswell G. Nuger and Lillian S. Nuger. The third hearing, on May 11, 1962, was on charges against the Nugers and AA Insurance Agency, Inc. (the AA Agency), the third appellant, of which Mrs. Nuger was President and Mr. Nuger, Secretary-Treasurer. On June 1, 1962, the Commissioner rendered a consolidated decision, under five counts. His conclusion was as follows:

“After considering all of the facts and testimony involved, it is my conclusion that Lillian Nuger, President, and Caswell G. Nuger, Secretary-Treasurer of AA Insurance Agency, Inc. have not observed the Laws of Maryland in conducting the affairs of this *60 brokerage firm, and that it is not in the public interest to permit Lillian Nuger, as President of A A Insurance Agency, Inc. and/or in her capacity as an individual; Caswell G. Nuger as Secretary-Treasurer of AA Insurance Agency, Inc. and/or in his capacity as an individual; or AA Insurance Agency, Inc., a corporate entity, to be again licensed to engage in the insurance business in the State of Maryland. It is further ordered that the qualifications of Lillian Nuger and Caswell G. Nuger to engage in the insurance business in the State of Maryland in any capacity are hereby revoked.”

The appellants appealed from this decision, and the Commissioner’s motion to dismiss the appeal was granted by the lower court on October 14, 1962, on the ground that it was not filed within thirty days from the order. On appeal, we reversed the judgment and remanded the case for further proceedings. Nuger v. State Ins. Comm'r, 231 Md. 543, 191 A. 2d 222 (1963). On March 30, 1964, the case was tried before Judge Sodaro, without a jury; at this hearing, additional testimony was offered by the appellants and admitted over objection. On April 3, 1964, Judge Sodaro wrote the parties that, upon consideration of the transcript of testimony before the Commissioner, the exhibits, and the testimony given at the court hearing, he had concluded to affirm the Commissioner’s decision.

Article 48A of the Code (1957), (the old law) as in effect when the charges were filed against the appellants by the Commissioner and the hearings held before him, in 1962, was repealed, effective December 31, 1963, by Chapter 553, Acts of 1963, and was replaced by the Maryland “Insurance Code”, Article 48A (Code, 1964 Replacement Volume), (the new law). If the Commissioner’s decision was proper under the old law, the repeal and reenactment of the statute did not release or extinguish any penalty of forfeiture incurred thereunder. Code (1957), Article 1, Section 3. See Brooks v. State Board, 233 Md. 98, 195 A. 2d 728 (1963).

A question is presented as to whether the procedure in the hearing on the appeal in the lower court was governed by the provisions of the old law, under which the Administrative Pro *61 cedure Act (Code, 1957), Article 41, Sections 255 (e) and (g) was applicable, or by Article 48A, Sections 40 (4) and (5) of the new law. The pertinent provisions of both the new and old laws are the same, except that Section 255 (e) of the Administrative Procedure Act provides for the taking of additional evidence by the court on appeal only under certain circumstances, and that Section 40 (4) of the new law provides that the court shall hear the matter de novo and shall consider the evidence before the Commissioner, together with such additional evidence as may be offered by any party to the appeal. The appellants contend that the procedural provisions of the new law prevail and that, under the section quoted, the burden is on the Commissioner to sustain the action taken by him. We do not agree with this interpretation of the new law. Section 40 (5) of that law provides, in the same language as that of the corresponding section of the Administrative Procedure Act, that the court may affirm the decision or remand the case, or reverse and modify, if the substantial rights of the petitioners may have been prejudiced for any of the reasons set forth. The ■history of the Administrative Procedure Act as well as its language, shows that the purpose of judicial review of administrative action in contested cases was to review that action under the criteria set forth, not to have a de novo judicial hearing which would take the place of the administrative process. 1, Davis, Administrative Law- Treatise §1.04. Both the new and old laws, in our opinion, place the burden on the petitioners to show that the administrative proceedings prejudiced any of their substantial rights. The only difference we find in the two laws in respect of the procedure on appeal is that under the old law additional evidence could be offered in the judicial proceedings on the appeal only if the court were satisfied that the evidence was material and that there were good reasons for failure to present it in the administrative proceedings, whereas under the new law any party to the appeal may offer additional evidence as a matter of right. Taking Sections 40 (4) and (5) together, as we must, it is clear that this is the only meaning of “de novo” in Section 40 (4). In this case, all the additional evidence proffered by the appellants was admitted by the trial judge so that, in our view, it is immaterial which law was applicable to the appeal procedure.

*62 The issues raised on this appeal can best be determined by a consideration of the administrative proceedings in chronological order. These proceedings were all under Section 111 of the old law. Section 111 read as follows :

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Bluebook (online)
207 A.2d 619, 238 Md. 55, 1965 Md. LEXIS 627, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/nuger-v-state-insurance-commissioner-md-1965.