§1209 . Judicial review

(a) In general

Any party aggrieved by a final decision entered pursuant to the provisions of section 1208(d)(2) of this title may petition for review by the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. A decision may not be reviewed under this section unless a timely request for review of such decision was filed under section 1208(a) of this title.

(b) Law applicable

Chapter 158 of title 28 shall apply to a review under this section except that-

(1) with respect to section 2344 of title 28, service of the petition shall be on the Senate Legal 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 1208(d) of this title;

(4) the Office shall be an "agency" as that term is used in chapter 158 of title 28; and

(5) the Office shall be the respondent in any proceeding under this section.

(c) Standard of review

To the extent necessary to decision 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 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.

In making the foregoing determinations, 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. The record on review shall include the record before the hearing board, the decision of the hearing board, and the decision, if any, of the Select Committee on Ethics.

(d) Attorney's fees

If an employee is the prevailing party in a proceeding under this section, attorney's fees may be allowed by the court in accordance with the standards prescribed under section 2000e–5(k) of title 42.

( Pub. L. 102–166, title III, §309, Nov. 21, 1991, 105 Stat. 1093 ; Pub. L. 102–392, title III, §316(a), Oct. 6, 1992, 106 Stat. 1724 ; Pub. L. 103–50, ch. XII, §1204(a), July 2, 1993, 107 Stat. 268 .)

Amendments

1993-Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 103–50 amended subsec. (a) generally. Prior to amendment, subsec. (a) read as follows: "Any Senate employee aggrieved by a final decision under section 1208(d) of this title, and a final decision entered pursuant to section 1208(d)(2)(B) of this title, may petition for review by the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit."

1992-Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 102–392 struck out "or any Member of the Senate who would be required to reimburse the appropriate Federal account pursuant to the section entitled 'Payments by the President or a Member of the Senate' " after "section 1208(d) of this title,".

Effective Date of 1993 Amendment

Section 1204(b) of Pub. L. 103–50 provided that: "The amendment made by this section [amending this section] shall take effect upon the date of the enactment of this Act [July 2, 1993], except that such amendment shall not affect any proceeding or suit commenced before the effective date and in all such proceedings or suits, proceedings shall be had, appeals taken, and judgments rendered in the same manner and with the same effect as if this section had not been enacted."

Section Referred to in Other Sections

This section is referred to in sections 60m, 1204, 1208, 1213, 1214, 1221, 1224 of this title.