Veterans' right to fair adjudication : Rapport de suivi : le droit des vétérans à un processus décisionnel équitable

The purpose of this Follow-up Report is to determine the extent to which VAC, VRAB and the Minister of Veterans Affairs have implemented the recommendations made in the VO VRAB Report. [...] The Federal Court confirmed that VRAB has reduced the number of applications allowed (ruled in favour of the Veteran) from 60 percent at the time of the OVO VRAB Report8, to nil at the time of this Report. [...] Further, “… the Chair of the Board has advised [the Minister] that it will soon begin publishing on its website links to relevant Federal Court judgements as well as Board decisions from cases it has reheard at the Court’s request.” The OVO acknowledges the strides made by the Board and the Minister to meet the intent of this recommendation. [...] RECOMMENDATION 5: “For the Minister of Veterans Affairs to mandate the Bureau of Pensions Advocates to represent applicants on judicial review of decisions of the Veterans Review and Appeal Board in the Federal Court.” Not implemented - In the Minister’s response (found in Annex B) he stated, “Resources are best utilized in ensuring adequate capacity, processes and legal representation in the firs [...] The Progress Update on Action Plan reported that “In the new process, the Board’s goal is to schedule a hearing for the applicant within 90 days of the Federal Court decision.”16 The VO welcomes VRAB’s implementation of the new processes and the established standards, and thus concludes that the recommendation is fully implemented.