In rare cases, courts issue remand orders that include a deadline
for completing all or part of the remand proceedings. The most common
actions that courts require the agency to complete within a specified time
involve the following: institute proceedings, schedule a hearing, hold a
hearing, issue a final decision, complete the record (e.g., reconstruct
the file), and/or advise the court of the processing status.
It is essential that the Office of Appellate Operations
coordinate time-limited remand processing both with the Office of
Hearings Operations components and with the Office of the General
Counsel (OGC). Failure to meet a court-imposed time limit can result in
sanctions being imposed by the court, including finding the Commissioner
in contempt of court. The procedures outlined below are designed to
ensure that time limits are met or that a request for an extension of
time is made promptly when the action specified by the court cannot be
completed by the deadline.
After a court has set a deadline in a case, the case will continue
to be treated as a time-limited remand at both the hearing and Appeals
Council levels, even after the action(s) specified in the court order
has been completed within the court-imposed time limit. This treatment
ensures that any case that a court has designated as needing priority
handling will continue to receive expedited treatment throughout its
processing.