Veterans Court power comes from a Federal rule called our US Code. I believe every Veteran should consider appealing to the United States Veteran’s Court of Appeals if their case has an unsettled result.
First Veterans Court Power
The first Veterans Court Power is the power to review decisions. In my own world, I do not trust broad conclusions suggesting a claim cannot be reviewed. This is absolutely bogus. Even missed deadlines or statutes of limitations can be reviewed.
Generally, the power to review a decision is attached to a decision made by the Board of Veteran’s Appeals or BVA. Yes, even the BVA tells us what they expect when a Veteran appeals a claim. In fact, I encourage you to read it here.
Thus, the first power is real and valid.
The second Veterans Court Power
The second Veterans Court Power is their power to do any of the following things when they review a case:
- Affirm a decision,
- Modify a decision,
- Reverse a decision, and or
- Send a case back to the Board for review.
Perhaps you noticed or perhaps you didn’t, I said “and or”. I did this because the Veteran’s Court of Appeals sometimes uses a combination of all four types of decisions in any one case.
In other words, it is not uncommon for the Veterans’ Appeals Court to review a claim for benefits and affirm part of it, modify another part, and send a third part back to the BVA for review.
Thus, knowing this second Veterans Court Power is powerful in the sense of identifying expectations.
The third Veterans Court Power
The third power held by the Veteran’s Court of Appeals is more of a limitation than anything. A different US Code tells us the Veterans Court Power is can:
- Interpret the law,
- Force the person in charge of VA Benefits to move faster, and
- Put cases aside that are unlawful or erroneous.
While we are on the topic of limitations, the VA Court of Appeals does not have the power to review the “schedule” of ratings we can find here. Basically, this means the Court cannot change a payment if a certain disability rating is assigned. Yes, this is confusing and I encourage feedback to work through your specific claim.
Need help with an Appeal?
Regardless where you are in the World or Country, if you need help with a Veteran appeal, please contact me directly.
