(a) Except as requested pursuant to paragraph (b) of this section or permitted under paragraph (d) or (e) of this section, prior to issuance of a decision by the panel, no Management Judge or an officer or employee of the Office external to the Board shall initiate communication, directly or through intermediaries, with any member of a panel regarding the decision.

(b) Any individual panel member may request that one or more Management Judges or an officer or employee of the Office external to the Board provide input on a decision prior to issuance. The choice to request input is optional and solely within the discretion of an individual panel member.

(c) It is within the sole discretion of the panel to adopt any edits, suggestions, or feedback provided to the panel by a Management Judge or an officer or employee of the Office external to the Board as part of a review requested under paragraph (b) of this section. The panel has final authority and responsibility for the content of a decision and determines whether and how to incorporate any feedback requested under paragraph (b).

(d) The prohibition of paragraph (a) of this section shall not apply to any Management Judge who is a member of the panel. When sitting as a member of a panel, a Management Judge is a coequal member of the panel.

(e) Nothing in this section shall prevent a Management Judge from communicating with a panel as to resource needs or the procedural status of any case pending before the Board.