Facts
B., born in 1941, lost his job as a mason at T. AG company at the end of November 1992. He was then registered as unemployed and received unemployment benefits. Due to a lung condition (chronic obstructive bronchitis) existing since August 1993, B. applied to the IV (Disability Insurance) in October 1994 for vocational rehabilitation and a pension. After examining his medical and professional situation as well as his reintegration prospects and after the preliminary notice procedure, the IV office of the canton of Zurich granted him a half-pension (degree of disability: 61%) with a supplementary pension for his wife, with retroactive effect from 1 March 1995.Considerations
1. The Federal Insurance Court first examines the legality of the suspension of the proceedings ordered by the cantonal court in order to allow the IV office to carry out a psychiatric expert assessment. According to case law, the appeal has a devolutive effect, so that the IV office is in principle no longer authorized to order investigative measures after the appeal has been filed. However, an exception is admitted when the IV office, on the basis of cantonal law, can re-examine its decision until the submission of its response. In this case, specific investigative measures can be ordered, but not medical expert opinions or other important evidence for the outcome of the dispute. In the present case, the psychiatric expert assessment ordered by the IV office during the appeal proceedings must be considered as too important an investigative measure, so that the cantonal court should have either admitted the appeal and referred the case back to the IV office for further investigation, or ordered the expert assessment itself in compliance with the cantonal procedure. 2.…