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    38 USC Sec. 7266                                            01/19/04

-EXPCITE-

    TITLE 38 - VETERANS' BENEFITS

    PART V - BOARDS, ADMINISTRATIONS, AND SERVICES

    CHAPTER 72 - UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR VETERANS CLAIMS

    SUBCHAPTER II - PROCEDURE

-HEAD-

    Sec. 7266. Notice of appeal

-STATUTE-

      (a) In order to obtain review by the Court of Appeals for

    Veterans Claims of a final decision of the Board of Veterans'

    Appeals, a person adversely affected by such decision shall file a

    notice of appeal with the Court within 120 days after the date on

    which notice of the decision is mailed pursuant to section 7104(e)

    of this title.

      (b) An appellant shall file a notice of appeal under this section

    by delivering or mailing the notice to the Court.

      (c) A notice of appeal shall be deemed to be received by the

    Court as follows:

        (1) On the date of receipt by the Court, if the notice is

      delivered.

        (2) On the date of the United States Postal Service postmark

      stamped on the cover in which the notice is posted, if the notice

      is properly addressed to the Court and is mailed.

      (d) For a notice of appeal mailed to the Court to be deemed to be

    received under subsection (c)(2) on a particular date, the United

    States Postal Service postmark on the cover in which the notice is

    posted must be legible. The Court shall determine the legibility of

    any such postmark and the Court's determination as to legibility

    shall be final and not subject to review by any other Court.

-SOURCE-

    (Added Pub. L. 100-687, div. A, title III, Sec. 301(a), Nov. 18,

    1988, 102 Stat. 4116, Sec. 4066; renumbered Sec. 7266 and amended

    Pub. L. 102-40, title IV, Sec. 402(b)(1), (d)(1), May 7, 1991, 105

    Stat. 238, 239; Pub. L. 102-83, Sec. 4(b)(1), (2)(E), Aug. 6, 1991,

    105 Stat. 404, 405; Pub. L. 103-446, title V, Sec. 511(a), Nov. 2,

    1994, 108 Stat. 4670; Pub. L. 105-368, title V, Sec. 512(a)(1),

    Nov. 11, 1998, 112 Stat. 3341; Pub. L. 107-103, title V, Sec. 507,

    Dec. 27, 2001, 115 Stat. 997.)

-MISC1-

                                AMENDMENTS                            

      2001 - Pub. L. 107-103 struck out "(1)" before "In order to",

    redesignated par. (2) of subsec. (a) as subsec. (b), redesignated

    par. (3) of subsec. (a) as subsec. (c) and subpars. (A) and (B)

    thereof as pars. (1) and (2), respectively, redesignated par. (4)

    of subsec. (a) as subsec. (d) and substituted "subsection (c)(2)"

    for "paragraph (3)(B)", and struck out former subsec. (b) which

    read as follows: "The appellant shall also furnish the Secretary

    with a copy of such notice, but a failure to do so shall not

    constitute a failure of timely compliance with subsection (a) of

    this section."

      1998 - Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 105-368 substituted "Court of

    Appeals for Veterans Claims" for "Court of Veterans Appeals".

      1994 - Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 103-446 amended subsec. (a)

    generally. Prior to amendment, subsec. (a) read as follows: "In

    order to obtain review by the Court of Veterans Appeals of a final

    decision of the Board of Veterans' Appeals, a person adversely

    affected by that action must file a notice of appeal with the

    Court. Any such notice must be filed within 120 days after the date

    on which notice of the decision is mailed pursuant to section

    7104(e) of this title."

      1991 - Pub. L. 102-40, Sec. 402(b)(1), renumbered section 4066 of

    this title as this section.

      Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 102-40, Sec. 402(d)(1), substituted

    "7104(e)" for "4004(e)".

      Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 102-83, Sec. 4(b)(1), (2)(E), substituted

    "Secretary" for "Administrator".

                     EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1998 AMENDMENT                 

      Amendment 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.

                     EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1994 AMENDMENT                 

      Section 511(b) of Pub. L. 103-446 provided that: "The amendment

    made by subsection (a) [amending this section] shall take effect on

    the date of the enactment of this Act [Nov. 2, 1994] and shall

    apply to notices of appeal that are delivered or mailed to the

    United States Court of Veterans Appeals [now United States Court of

    Appeals for Veterans Claims] on or after that date."

              INTERIM PROVISION FOR FILING NOTICES OF APPEAL          

      Pub. L. 101-94, title II, Sec. 202, Aug. 16, 1989, 103 Stat. 626,

    provided that in the case of a person adversely affected by a final

    decision of the Board of Veterans' Appeals that was made before the

    date on which the United States Court of Veterans Appeals published

    in the Federal Register a notice by the Court that it had commenced

    operations, the period prescribed under this section within which a

    notice of appeal had to be filed with the Court was to be extended

    to the end of the 30-day period beginning on the date such notice

    was published, if the end of that period was later than the date

    that would otherwise be applicable under this section.

-SECREF-

                   SECTION REFERRED TO IN OTHER SECTIONS               

      This section is referred to in section 7264 of this title.