Ryan v. West

FARLEY, Judge:

Before the Court in this appeal is a jurisdictional issue of the timeliness of the appellant’s Notice of Appeal (NOA). The Court’s determination of this issue turns on whether 38 U.S.C. §§ 5902 and 7104(e), as amended by the Veterans’ Benefits Improvement Act (VBIA) of 1996, Pub.L. No. 104-275, §§ 508-09, 110 Stat. 3322, 3343-44 (1996), must be retroactively applied to this appeal, which was pending before the Court at the time the statute was enacted. The Court will hold that VBIA §§ 508 and 509 do not apply retroactively, and that the 120-day period for filing an NOA in this…