Title 38Veterans' BenefitsRelease 119-73

§7267 Decisions

Title 38 › Part PART V— - BOARDS, ADMINISTRATIONS, AND SERVICES › Chapter CHAPTER 72— - UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR VETERANS CLAIMS › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER II— - PROCEDURE › § 7267

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Decisions must be made quickly. If a panel hears a case, a majority vote is the Court’s decision. A judge or panel must decide assigned cases and motions and report rulings. The Court must name any government records it relied on. The Secretary must keep them at least as long as the Archivist of the United States requires.

Full Legal Text

Title 38, §7267

Veterans' Benefits — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)A decision upon a proceeding before the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims shall be made as quickly as practicable. In a case heard by a panel of the Court, the decision shall be made by a majority vote of the panel in accordance with the rules of the Court. The decision of the judge or panel hearing the case so made shall be the decision of the Court.
(b)A judge or panel shall make a determination upon any proceeding before the Court, and any motion in connection with such a proceeding, that is assigned to the judge or panel. The judge or panel shall make a report of any such determination which constitutes the judge or panel’s final disposition of the proceeding.
(c)The Court shall designate in its decision in any case those specific records of the Government on which it relied (if any) in making its decision. The Secretary shall preserve records so designated for not less than the period of time designated by the Archivist of the United States.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

1998—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 105–368 substituted “Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims” for “Court of Veterans Appeals”. 1991—Pub. L. 102–40 renumbered section 4067 of this title as this section. Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 102–82, § 1(3), struck out before period at end “except as provided in subsection (d) of this section”. Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 102–82, § 1(1), (2), redesignated subsec. (c) as (b) and struck out former subsec. (b) which read as follows: “The Court shall include in its decision a statement of its conclusions of law and determinations as to factual matters.” Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 102–83 substituted “Secretary” for “Administrator”. Pub. L. 102–82, § 8(1), substituted “Archivist of the United States” for “Administrator of the National Archives and Records Administration”. Pub. L. 102–82, § 1(2), redesignated subsec. (e) as (c). Former subsec. (c) redesignated (b). Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 102–82, § 1(1), struck out subsec. (d) which read as follows: “(1) In the case of a proceeding determined by a single judge of the Court, the decision of the judge shall become the decision of the Court unless before the end of the 30-day period beginning on the date of the decision by the judge the Court, upon the motion of either party or on its own initiative, directs that the decision be reviewed by a panel of the Court. In such a case, the decision of the judge initially deciding the case shall not be a part of the record. “(2) In the case of a proceeding determined by a panel of the Court, the decision of the panel shall become the decision of the Court unless before the end of the 30-day period beginning on the date of the decision by the panel the Court, upon the motion of either party or on its own initiative, directs that the decision be reviewed by an expanded panel of the Court (or the Court en banc). In such a case, the decision of the panel initially deciding the case shall not be a part of the record.” Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 102–82, § 1(2), redesignated subsec. (e) as (c).

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 1998 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 105–368 effective on first day of first month beginning more than 90 days after Nov. 11, 1998, see section 513 of Pub. L. 105–368, set out as a note under section 7251 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

38 U.S.C. § 7267

Title 38Veterans' Benefits

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73