§1407 Judicial review of Board decisions and enforcement

Summary

Gives the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit the power to hear challenges to certain final Board decisions and to hear cases the General Counsel brings to enforce Board orders. People who can ask the court include parties who lost before the Board, charging individuals or respondents who filed certain petitions, and the General Counsel in some situations. The General Counsel can also ask the court to enforce Board orders for violations of parts A, B, C, or D of subchapter II. The Office is usually the main party the court must sue, but other parties from the Board case can be named if they file a notice within 30 days after the petition is served. In some General Counsel petitions, the winner at the Board must be named respondent. Anyone who took part before the Board and was not made a respondent may join the court case. Most rules in chapter 158 of title 28 apply, except you must serve the petition on the General Counsel (not the Attorney General), one specific Attorney General authority does not apply, and the petition must be filed within 90 days after the Board’s final decision. The court will decide legal and constitutional questions, look at the whole record, and can overturn a Board decision if it was unreasonable, did not follow required procedures, or lacked enough supporting evidence.