(a) In General.—The chief judge of the Court shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress each year a report summarizing the workload of the Court for the fiscal year ending during the preceding year.

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Terms Used In 38 USC 7288

  • Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
  • Chief judge: The judge who has primary responsibility for the administration of a court but also decides cases; chief judges are determined by seniority.
  • Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. Source:
  • Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
  • Remand: When an appellate court sends a case back to a lower court for further proceedings.
  • Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.

(b) Elements.—Each report under subsection (a) shall include, with respect to the fiscal year covered by such report, the following information:

(1) The number of appeals filed with the Court.

(2) The number of petitions filed with the Court.

(3) The number of applications filed with the Court under section 2412 of title 28.

(4) The total number of dispositions by each of the following:

(A) The Court as a whole.

(B) The Clerk of the Court.

(C) A single judge of the Court.

(D) A multi-judge panel of the Court.

(E) The full Court.


(5) The number of each type of disposition by the Court, including settlement, affirmation, remand, vacation, dismissal, reversal, grant, and denial.

(6) The median time from filing an appeal to disposition by each of the following:

(A) The Court as a whole.

(B) The Clerk of the Court.

(C) A single judge of the Court.

(D) Multiple judges of the Court (including a multi-judge panel of the Court or the full Court).


(7) The median time from filing a petition to disposition by the Court.

(8) The median time from filing an application under section 2412 of title 28 to disposition by the Court.

(9) The median time from the completion of briefing requirements by the parties to disposition by the Court.

(10) The number of oral arguments before the Court.

(11) The number of cases appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

(12) The number and status of appeals and petitions pending with the Court and of applications described in paragraph (3) as of the end of such fiscal year.

(13) The number of cases pending with the Court more than 18 months as of the end of such fiscal year.

(14) A summary of any service performed for the Court by a recalled retired judge of the Court.

(15) An assessment of the workload of each judge of the Court, including consideration of the following:

(A) The time required of each judge for disposition of each type of case.

(B) The number of cases reviewed by the Court.

(C) The average workload of other Federal judges.


(c) Appropriate Committees of Congress Defined.—In this section, the term “appropriate committees of Congress” means—

(1) the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate; and

(2) the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives.

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