U.S. CODE

U.S. Code

§ 1407. Judicial review of Board decisions and enforcement

(a) Jurisdiction

(1) Judicial review

The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit shall have jurisdiction over any proceeding commenced by a petition of—

(A) a party aggrieved by a final decision of the Board under section 1406 (e) of this title in cases arising under part A of subchapter II of this chapter,

(B) a charging individual or a respondent before the Board who files a petition under section 1331 (d)(4) of this title,

(C) the General Counsel or a respondent before the Board who files a petition under section 1341 (c)(5) of this title, or

(D) the General Counsel or a respondent before the Board who files a petition under section 1351 (c)(3) of this title.

The court of appeals shall have exclusive jurisdiction to set aside, suspend (in whole or in part), to determine the validity of, or otherwise review the decision of the Board.

(2) Enforcement

The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit shall have jurisdiction over any petition of the General Counsel, filed in the name of the Office and at the direction of the Board, to enforce a final decision under section 1405 (g) or 1406 (e) of this title with respect to a violation of part A, B, C, or D of subchapter II of this chapter.

(b) Procedures

(1) Respondents

(A) In any proceeding commenced by a petition filed under subsection (a)(1)(A) or (B) of this section, or filed by a party other than the General Counsel under subsection (a)(1)(C) or (D) of this section, the Office shall be named respondent and any party before the Board may be named respondent by filing a notice of election with the court within 30 days after service of the petition.

(B) In any proceeding commenced by a petition filed by the General Counsel under subsection (a)(1)(C) or (D) of this section, the prevailing party in the final decision entered under section 1406 (e) of this title shall be named respondent, and any other party before the Board may be named respondent by filing a notice of election with the court within 30 days after service of the petition.

(C) In any proceeding commenced by a petition filed under subsection (a)(2) of this section, the party under section 1405 or 1406 of this title that the General Counsel determines has failed to comply with a final decision under section 1405 (g) or 1406 (e) of this title shall be named respondent.

(2) Intervention

Any party that participated in the proceedings before the Board under section 1406 of this title and that was not made respondent under paragraph (1) may intervene as of right.

Chapter 158 of title 28 shall apply to judicial review under paragraph (1) of subsection (a) of this section, except that—

(1) with respect to section 2344 of title 28, service of a petition in any proceeding in which the Office is a respondent shall be on the General Counsel rather than on the Attorney General;

(2) the provisions of section 2348 of title 28, on the authority of the Attorney General, shall not apply;

(3) the petition for review shall be filed not later than 90 days after the entry in the Office of a final decision under section 1406 (e) of this title; and

(4) the Office shall be an “agency” as that term is used in chapter 158 of title 28.

(d) Standard of review

To the extent necessary for decision in a proceeding commenced under subsection (a)(1) of this section and when presented, the court shall decide all relevant questions of law and interpret constitutional and statutory provisions. The court shall set aside a final decision of the Board if it is determined that the decision was—

(1) arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not consistent with law;

(2) not made consistent with required procedures; or

(3) unsupported by substantial evidence.

(e) Record

In making determinations under subsection (d) of this section, the court shall review the whole record, or those parts of it cited by a party, and due account shall be taken of the rule of prejudicial error.

Tips