[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 38, Volume 2]
[Revised as of July 1, 2003]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 38CFR20.704]

[Page 92-93]
 
            TITLE 38--PENSIONS, BONUSES, AND VETERANS' RELIEF
 
          CHAPTER I--DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS (CONTINUED)
 
PART 20--BOARD OF VETERANS' APPEALS: RULES OF PRACTICE--Table of Contents
 
                      Subpart H--Hearings on Appeal
 
Sec. 20.704  Rule 704. Scheduling and notice of hearings conducted by the 
Board of Veterans' Appeals at Department of Veterans Affairs field 
facilities.

    (a) General. Hearings are conducted by a Member or Members of the 
Board of Veterans' Appeals during prescheduled visits to Department of 
Veterans Affairs facilities having adequate physical resources and 
personnel for the support of such hearings. Subject to paragraph (f) of 
this section, the hearings will be scheduled in the order specified in 
Sec. 19.75 of this chapter. Requests for such hearings must be submitted 
to the agency of original jurisdiction, in writing, and should not be 
submitted directly to the Board of Veterans' Appeals.
    (b) Notification of hearing. When a hearing is scheduled, the person 
requesting it will be notified of its time and place, and of the fact 
that the Government may not assume any expense incurred by the 
appellant, the representative or witnesses attending the hearing.
    (c) Requests for changes in hearing dates. Requests for a change in 
a hearing date may be made at any time up to two weeks prior to the 
scheduled date of the hearing if good cause is shown. Such requests must 
be in writing, must explain why a new hearing date is necessary, and 
must be filed with the office of the official of the Department of 
Veterans Affairs who signed the notice of the original hearing date. 
Examples of good cause include, but are not limited to, illness of the 
appellant and/or representative, difficulty in obtaining necessary 
records, and unavailability of a necessary witness. If good cause is 
shown, the hearing will be rescheduled for the next available hearing 
date after the appellant or his or her representative gives notice that 
the contingency which gave rise to the request for postponement has been 
removed. If good cause is not shown, the appellant and his or her 
representative will be promptly notified and given an opportunity to 
appear at the hearing as previously scheduled. If the appellant elects 
not to appear at the prescheduled date, the request for a hearing will 
be considered to have been withdrawn. In such cases, however, the record 
will be submitted for review by the Member who would have presided over 
the hearing. If the presiding Member determines that good cause has been 
shown, the hearing will be rescheduled for the next available hearing 
date after the contingency which gave rise to the request for 
postponement has been removed.
    (d) Failure to appear for a scheduled hearing. If an appellant (or 
when a hearing only for oral argument by a representative has been 
authorized, the representative) fails to appear for a scheduled hearing 
and a request for postponement has not been received and granted, the 
case will be processed as though the request for a hearing had been 
withdrawn. No further request for a hearing will be granted in the same 
appeal unless such failure to appear was with good cause and the cause 
for the failure to appear arose under such circumstances that a timely 
request for postponement could not have been submitted prior to the 
scheduled hearing date. A motion for a new hearing date following a 
failure to appear for a scheduled hearing must be in writing, must be 
filed within 15 days of the originally scheduled hearing date, and must 
explain why the appellant failed to appear for the hearing and why a 
timely request for a new hearing date could not have been submitted. 
Such motions must be filed with: Director, Management and Administration 
(01E), Board of Veterans' Appeals, 810 Vermont Avenue, NW., Washington, 
DC 20420. Whether good cause for such failure to appear and the 
impossibility of timely requesting postponement have been established 
will be determined by the Member who would have presided over the 
hearing. If good cause and the impossibility of timely requesting 
postponement are shown, the hearing will be rescheduled for the next 
available hearing date at the same facility after the appellant or his 
or her representative gives notice that the contingency which gave rise 
to the failure to appear has been removed.
    (e) Withdrawal of hearing requests. A request for a hearing may be 
withdrawn by an appellant at any time before the date of the hearing. A 
request for a hearing may not be withdrawn by

[[Page 93]]

an appellant's representative without the consent of the appellant. 
Notices of withdrawal must be submitted to the office of the Department 
of Veterans Affairs official who signed the notice of the hearing date.
    (f) Advancement of the case on the hearing docket. A hearing may be 
scheduled at a time earlier than would be provided for under Sec. 19.75 
of this chapter upon written motion of the appellant or the 
representative. The same grounds for granting relief, motion filing 
procedures, and designation of authority to rule on the motion specified 
in Rule 900(c) (Sec. 20.900(c) of this part) for advancing a case on the 
Board's docket shall apply.

(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 7107)

(Approved by the Office of Management and Budget under control number 
2900-0085)

[57 FR 4109, Feb. 3, 1992, as amended at 61 FR 20451, May 7, 1996; 65 FR 
14471, Mar. 17, 2000]