                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

RIGHT, FORMS, VENUE; DATE OF ADOPTION OR READOPTION FOR PURPOSES OF APPEAL (§
2.2-4026)

A. Any person affected by and claiming the unlawfulness of any regulation or
party aggrieved by and claiming unlawfulness of a case decision and whether
exempted from the procedural requirements of Article 2 (&#xA7; 2.2-4006 et seq.)
or 3 (&#xA7; 2.2-4018 et seq.) shall have a right to the direct review thereof
by an appropriate and timely court action against the agency or its officers or
agents in the manner provided by the Rules of Supreme Court of Virginia. Actions
may be instituted in any court of competent jurisdiction as provided in &#xA7;
2.2-4003, and the judgments of the courts of original jurisdiction shall be
subject to appeal to or review by higher courts as in other cases unless
otherwise provided by law. In addition, when any regulation or case decision is
the subject of an enforcement action in court, it shall also be reviewable by
the court as a defense to the action, and the judgment or decree therein shall
be appealable as in other cases.

B. In any court action under this section by a person affected by and claiming
the unlawfulness of any regulation on the basis that an agency failed to follow
any procedure for the promulgation or adoption of a regulation specified in this
chapter or in such agency&#8217;s basic law, the burden shall be upon the party
complaining of the agency action to designate and demonstrate the unlawfulness
of the regulation by a preponderance of the evidence. If the court finds in
favor of the party complaining of the agency action, the court shall declare the
regulation null and void and remand the case to the agency for further
proceedings.

C. Notwithstanding any other provision of law or of any executive order issued
under this chapter, with respect to any challenge of a regulation subject to
judicial review under this chapter, the date of adoption or readoption of the
regulation pursuant to &#xA7; 2.2-4015 for purposes of appeal under the Rules of
Supreme Court shall be the date of publication in the Register of Regulations.

HISTORY: 1975, c. 503, § 9-6.14:16; 1986, c. 615; 1989, cc. 677, 734; 2001, c.
844; 2014, c. 699; 2016, c. 359.