Survivors’ Rights Restitution Act of 2026

(a) In General. The United States Court of Federal Claims and the United States Court of Federal Claims special adjudicators shall, in accordance with this section, have jurisdiction over proceedings to determine if a petitioner is entitled to compensation under the Program and the amount of such compensation. The United States Court of Federal Claims may issue and enforce such orders as the court deems necessary to assure the prompt payment of any compensation awarded.

(b) Parties

(1) Attorney General as respondent. In all proceedings brought by the filing of a petition under section 3, the Attorney General shall be named as the respondent, shall participate, and shall be represented in accordance with section 518(a) of title 28, United States Code.

(2) Publication. Within 30 days after the Attorney General receives service of any petition filed under section 3 the Attorney General shall publish notice of such petition in the Federal Register without any personally identifiable information of the petitioner. The special adjudicator designated with respect to such petition shall afford all interested persons an opportunity to submit relevant, written information—

(A) relating to the existence of the evidence described in section 3(c); or

(B) relating to any allegation in a petition with respect to the matters described in section 3(c)(1).

(c) United States Court of Federal Claims special adjudicators

(1) Establishment. There is established within the United States Court of Federal Claims an office of special adjudicators to be known as the Office of Special Adjudicators for Survivors Restitution which shall consist of not less than 6 special adjudicators. The judges of the United States Court of Federal Claims shall appoint the special adjudicators, 1 of whom, by designation of the judges of the United States Court of Federal Claims, shall serve as chief special adjudicator. The appointment and reappointment of the special adjudicators shall be by the concurrence of a majority of the judges of the court.

(2) Qualifications. In making appointments under paragraph (1), the judges of the United States Court of Federal Claims shall ensure that—

(A) of the individuals appointed, not fewer than 4 are licensed mental health professionals with clinical experience providing trauma-informed care to individuals who have experienced sexual assault, abuse, or trafficking; and

(B) the group of individuals appointed reflect, to the maximum extent practicable, a balance of expertise in—

(i) victim services or advocacy;

(ii) mental health care;

(iii) civil rights law or criminal law; and

(iv) the administration of complex claims or compensation programs.

(3) Removal. The chief special adjudicator and other special adjudicators shall be subject to removal by the judges of the United States Court of Federal Claims for incompetency or misconduct.

(4) Term. The appointment of any individual as a special adjudicator shall be for a term of 4 years, subject to termination under paragraph (3).

(5) Compensation. The compensation of the special adjudicators shall be determined by the judges of the United States Court of Federal Claims, upon advice of the chief special adjudicator. The salary of the chief special adjudicator shall be the annual rate of basic pay for level IV of the Executive Schedule, as prescribed by section 5315, title 5, United States Code. The salaries of the other special adjudicators shall not exceed the annual rate of basic pay of level V of the Executive Schedule, as prescribed by section 5316, title 5, United States Code.

(6) Duties of chief special adjudicator. The chief special adjudicator shall be responsible for the following:

(A) Administering the office of special adjudicators and their staff, providing for the efficient, expeditious, and effective handling of petitions, and performing such other duties related to the Program as may be assigned to the chief special adjudicator by a concurrence of a majority of the United States Court of Federal Claims judges.

(B) Appointing and fixing the salary and duties of such administrative staff as are necessary. Such staff shall be subject to removal for good cause by the chief special adjudicator.

(C) Managing and executing all aspects of budgetary and administrative affairs affecting the special adjudicators and their staff, subject to the rules and regulations of the Judicial Conference of the United States. The Conference rules and regulations pertaining to United States magistrate judges shall be applied to the special adjudicators.

(D) Coordinating with the United States Court of Federal Claims the use of services, equipment, personnel, information, and facilities of the United States Court of Federal Claims without reimbursement.

(E) Reporting annually to Congress and the judges of the United States Court of Federal Claims on the number of petitions filed under section 3 and their disposition, the types and amounts of awards, the length of time for the disposition of petitions, the cost of administering the Program, and recommendations for changes in the Program.

(d) special adjudicators

(1) Designation. Following the receipt and filing of a petition under section 3, the clerk of the United States Court of Federal Claims shall forward the petition to the chief special adjudicator who shall designate a special adjudicator to carry out the functions authorized by paragraph (3).

(2) Rules. The special adjudicators shall recommend rules to the Court of Federal Claims and, taking into account such recommended rules, the Court of Federal Claims shall promulgate rules pursuant to section 2071 of title 28, United States Code. Such rules shall—

(A) provide for a less-adversarial, expeditious, and informal proceeding for the resolution of petitions;

(B) include flexible and informal standards of admissibility of evidence;

(C) include the opportunity for summary judgment;

(D) include the opportunity for parties to submit arguments and evidence on the record without requiring routine use of oral presentations, cross examinations, or hearings; and

(E) provide for limitations on discovery and allow the special adjudicators to replace the usual rules of discovery in civil actions in the United States Court of Federal Claims.

(3) Decisions

(A) Issuance. A special adjudicator to whom a petition has been assigned shall issue a decision on such petition with respect to whether compensation is to be provided under the Program and the amount of such compensation. The decision of the special adjudicator shall— The decision of the special adjudicator may be reviewed by the United States Court of Federal Claims in accordance with subsection (e).

(i) include findings of fact and conclusions of law; and

(ii) be issued as expeditiously as practicable but not later than 120 days, exclusive of suspended time under subparagraph (C), after the date the petition was filed.

(B) Conduct of proceeding. In conducting a proceeding on a petition a special adjudicator—

(i) may require such evidence as may be reasonable and necessary;

(ii) may require the submission of such information as may be reasonable and necessary;

(iii) may require the testimony of any person and the production of any documents as may be reasonable and necessary;

(iv) shall afford all interested persons an opportunity to submit relevant written information relating to any allegation in a petition with respect to the matters described in section 3(c); and

(v) may conduct such hearings as may be reasonable and necessary.

(C) Suspension. In conducting a proceeding on a petition, a special adjudicator shall suspend the proceedings one time for 30 days on the motion of either party. After a motion for suspension is granted, further motions for suspension by either party may be granted by the special adjudicator, if the special adjudicator determines the suspension is reasonable and necessary, for an aggregate period not to exceed 150 days.

(4) Limitation on disclosure of information

(A) In general. Except as provided in subparagraph (B), information submitted to a special adjudicator or the court in a proceeding on a petition may not be disclosed to a person who is not a party to the proceeding without the express written consent of the person who submitted the information.

(B) Disclosure of decision. A decision of a special adjudicator or the court in a proceeding shall be disclosed, except that if the decision is to include information which is personally identifiable information, a medical file, or a similar file the disclosure of which would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of privacy, and if the person who submitted such information objects to the inclusion of such information in the decision, the decision shall be disclosed without such information.

(e) Action by United States Court of Federal Claims

(1) Motion to review. Upon issuance of the special adjudicator’s decision, the parties shall have 30 days to file with the clerk of the United States Court of Federal Claims a motion to have the court review the decision. If such a motion is filed, the other party shall file a response with the clerk of the United States Court of Federal Claims no later than 30 days after the filing of such motion.

(2) Jurisdiction. Upon the filing of a motion under paragraph (1) with respect to a petition, the United States Court of Federal Claims shall have jurisdiction to undertake a review of the record of the proceedings and may thereafter— The court shall complete its action on a petition within 120 days of the filing of a response under paragraph (1) excluding any days the petition is before a special adjudicator as a result of a remand under subparagraph (C). The court may allow not more than 90 days for remands under subparagraph (C).

(A) uphold the findings of fact and conclusions of law of the special adjudicator and sustain the special adjudicator's decision;

(B) set aside any findings of fact or conclusion of law of the special adjudicator found to be arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law and issue its own findings of fact and conclusions of law; or

(C) remand the petition to the special adjudicator for further action in accordance with the court’s direction.

(3) Entry of judgment. In the absence of a motion under paragraph (1) respecting the special adjudicator’s decision or if the United States Court of Federal Claims takes the action described in paragraph (2)(A) with respect to the special adjudicator’s decision, the clerk of the United States Court of Federal Claims shall immediately enter judgment in accordance with the special adjudicator’s decision.

(f) Appeals. The findings of fact and conclusions of law of the United States Court of Federal Claims on a petition shall be final determinations of the matters involved, except that the Attorney General or any petitioner aggrieved by the findings or conclusions of the court may obtain review of the judgment of the court in the United States court of appeals for the Federal Circuit upon petition filed within 60 days of the date of the judgment with such court of appeals within 60 days of the date of entry of the United States Claims Court’s judgment with such court of appeals.