{"data":{"id":"us/34-cfr-21.3","jurisdiction":"us","citation":"34 CFR 21.3","heading":"Definitions.","body":"The following definitions apply to this part:\nAct means the Equal Access to Justice Act.\nAdjudicative officer means the Administrative Law Judge, hearing examiner, or other deciding official who presided at the underlying adversary adjudication.\nAdversary adjudication means a proceeding—\n(1) Conducted by the Department for the formulation of an order or decision arising from a hearing on the record under the Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 554);\n(2) Listed in § 21.10; and\n(3) In which the position of the Department was represented by counsel or other representative who entered an appearance and participated in the proceeding.\nApplication subject to the jurisdiction of the CRRA means an application for fees and expenses based on an underlying proceeding conducted under 34 CFR parts 100, 101, 104, 106, or 110.\nCRRA means the Civil Rights Reviewing Authority, the reviewing authority established by the Secretary to consider applications under 34 CFR parts 100, 101, 104, 106, and 110.\nDepartment means the U.S. Department of Education.\nDepartment's counsel means counsel for the Department of Education or another Federal agency.\nEmployee means:\n(1) A person who regularly performs services for an applicant—\n(i) For remuneration; and\n(ii) Under the applicant's direction and control.\n(2) A part-time or seasonal employee who performs services for an applicant—\n(i) For renumeration; and\n(ii) Under the applicant's direction and control.\nFees and other expenses means an eligible applicant's reasonable fees and expenses—\n(1) Related to the issues on which it was the prevailing party in the adversary adjudication; and\n(2) Further described in §§ 21.33 and 21.50.\nParty means a “person” or a “party” as those terms are defined in the Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 551(3)), including an individual, partnership, corporation, association, unit of local government, or public or private organization that meets the requirements in § 21.20. The term does not include an agency of the Federal Government.\nPosition of the Department means, in addition to the position taken by the Department in the adversary adjudication, the action or failure to act by the Department upon which the adversary adjudication is based.\nSecretary means the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education or an official or employee of the Department acting for the Secretary under a delegation of authority.","path":["Title 34—Education","Subtitle A—Office of the Secretary, Department of Education","PART 21—EQUAL ACCESS TO JUSTICE","Subpart A—General"],"source_url":"https://www.ecfr.gov/api/versioner/v1/full/2026-08-25/title-34.xml","current_through":"2026-08-25","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-08-27T02:25:40Z","sha256":"593bd1963bdd673a265c7c016b1839086bc7772a04a087072e471afeaf5a7e11","source_id":"us-cfr","stale":true,"prev":"us/34-cfr-21.2","next":"us/34-cfr-21.10"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}