§ 20.715 - Rule 715. Loss of hearing recordings or transcripts - request for new hearing.

§ 20.715 Rule 715. Recording Loss of hearing by appellant or representative.

Cross Reference

Link to an amendment published at 84 FR 188, Jan. 18, 2019.

An appellant or representative may record the hearing with his or her own equipment. Filming, videotaping or televising the hearing may only be authorized when prior written consent is obtained from all appellants and contesting claimants, if any, and made a matter of record. In no event will such additional equipment be used if it interferes with the conduct of the hearing or the official recording apparatus. In all such situations, advance arrangements must be made. In the case of hearings held before the Board of Veterans' Appeals in Washington, DC, arrangements must be made with the Director, Office of Management, Planning and Analysis (014), Board of Veterans' Appeals, P.O. Box 27063, Washington, DC 20038. In the case of hearings held before the Board at Department of Veterans Affairs field facilities, arrangements must be made through the office of the Department of Veterans Affairs official who signed the letter giving notification of the time and place of the hearing

recordings or transcripts - request for new hearing.

(a) Notification.

(1) The Board must notify the appellant and his or her representative in writing in the event the Board discovers that a Board hearing has not been recorded in whole or in part due to equipment failure or other cause, or the official transcript of the hearing is lost or destroyed and the recording upon which it was based is no longer available. The notice must provide the appellant with a choice of either of the following options:

(i) Appear at a new Board hearing, pursuant to Rules 703 and 704 (§§ 20.703 and 20.704) for appeals or Rules 602 and 603 (§§ 20.602 and 20.603) for legacy appeals, as defined in § 19.2 of this chapter; or

(ii) Have the Board proceed to appellate review of the appeal based on the evidence of record.

(2) The notice will inform the appellant that he or she has a period of 30 days to respond to the notice. If the appellant does not respond by requesting a new hearing within 30 days from the date of the mailing of the notice, then the Board will decide the appeal on the basis of the evidence of record. A request for a new Board hearing will not be accepted once the Board has issued a decision on the appeal.

(b) Board decision issued prior to a loss of the recording or transcript. The Board will not accept a request for a new Board hearing under this section if a Board decision was issued on an appeal prior to the loss of the recording or transcript of a Board hearing, and the Board decision considered testimony provided at that Board hearing.

(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 7102, 7105(a), 7107)

[58 84 FR 27936, May 12, 1993, as amended at 61 FR 20452, May 7, 1996; 81 FR 32650, May 24, 2016188, Jan. 18, 2019]