Creating a Unified Tribunals System
Bridget Prentice, Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Ministry of Justice, outlines the rationale for tribunal reform and the main steps in the reform process.
Ensuring that the public has access to an efficient, independent, and customer focused administrative justice system, in which they can have confidence, is one of my top priorities. I believe this can be achieved through finding new and better ways of working and that's why we are implementing the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement (TCE) Act, which will deliver the biggest change the tribunal system has undergone for over 50 years.
Tribunals are a key part of the justice system - they are places where the ordinary citizen can go to present their grievance and, if there is merit to their claim, obtain simple, speedy and inexpensive justice. They deal with over 500,000 cases a year, more than any other branch of the justice system. Often the cases involve the most vulnerable in society - those who have been victims of crime, persecution, discrimination or unfair treatment. Cases can involve disputes over benefit entitlement, tax, asylum or employment.
The tribunals system was undeniably in much need of reform. Through the introduction of the Tribunals Service we have brought much needed coherence to the system and a greater transparency to the delivery of administrative justice. However further work is needed and these reforms build on our commitment to place customers at the heart of the service.
Following a consultation on implementing the TCE Act two new Tribunals will be established and the majority of existing tribunal jurisdictions will transfer into them. The new tribunals will be the First-tier Tribunal and Upper Tribunal. Both tribunals will consist of chambers, grouping jurisdictions dealing with similar work or requiring similar skills together. The five First-tier Tribunal chambers will be: Social Entitlement; Health, Education and Social Care; General Regulatory; Taxation; and Land, Property and Housing. The three Upper Tribunal chambers will be: Administrative Appeals; Finance and Tax; and Lands.
Individual tribunals, managed by the Tribunals Service, will no longer exist as separate tribunals. They will instead form part of the two new tribunals – the administrative equivalent of a County Court and the High Court.
This is a far more simplified structure that will help to deliver a more cohesive and customer focused service. This new system, headed by Lord Justice Carnwath as Senior President, will speed up justice, make the process easier for the public to understand and bring together the considerable expertise that exists in each tribunal jurisdiction.
The first chambers to go live on 3 November 2008 will be the Social Entitlement, the Health, Education and Social Care and the Administrative Appeals Chambers. Appeals to the Mental Health Review Tribunal, Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal, Care Standards Tribunal, SSCSA, Pensions Appeal Tribunal, Criminal Injuries Compensation Appeals Panel, Asylum Support Tribunal and Social Security and Child Support Commissioners will transfer into these chambers.
The First-tier Tribunal will be the first instance tribunal for most jurisdictions. The Upper Tribunal will deal with appeals from the First-tier Tribunal and from some tribunals outside the unified system. It will also have the power to deal with judicial review work delegated from the High Court.
Bringing most tribunals together and harmonising their procedures will help people to find their way around the system and get solutions to their issues more quickly and efficiently. The new system will create a shared pool of tribunal members so that suitably qualified members may consider cases from more than one jurisdiction. This will enable judges, non-legal members and staff to play an increasingly flexible role which best harnesses their talent and expertise. This will also offer great advantages for the cohesion and flexibility of the system in the longer term.
The Employment Tribunal and the Employment Appeal Tribunal will stand separately from the two-tier system, due to existing statutory requirements, but there will be close links between them. The Government is currently considering bringing the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal into the unified tribunals structure and is likely to consult on this shortly.
Lord Justice Carnwath and I will ensure that reforms will not come at the expense of continuity, specialisation or service to users. For instance the flexibility of tribunal members will not lead to a watering down of specialist expertise as any new judges or members moving into a new jurisdiction will need to demonstrate appropriate skills and knowledge in relation to appointments.
The immediate change to customers comes with the establishment of the Upper Tribunal and the onward appeal rights to it. In the case of the Mental Health Review Tribunal there are no current onward appeal rights and the only way to challenge a decision of the Tribunal is by judicial review. We are introducing an onward appeal to the Upper Tribunal and transferring onward appeals from the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal, the Pensions Appeal Tribunal and the Care Standards Tribunal from the High Court to the Upper Tribunal. This will benefit users of all the tribunals by providing a strong and dedicated appeals body to hear appeals from Tribunals.
We have established a Tribunal Procedure Committee to make rules governing the practice and procedure of the First-tier and Upper Tribunals. Its presence will bring greater consistency and simplicity to tribunal rules across jurisdictions.
We are creating a truly modern, unified and independent tribunals system. This move, along with the introduction of a new hearing centre network and administrative support centres dealing with a wide range of tribunals, will ensure our end to end case management processes are joined up and enable us to deliver consistent standards of service for our users. All tribunal users, that's over half a million people, will reap the benefits of these reforms.
I would like to pay tribute to the many organisations that provide advice and support to the public taking claims to the tribunals. Their work is invaluable and they have also helped to support and guide us through these changes.
I am confident that everyone involved with the tribunals system is keen to deliver these reforms. Tribunals often form the public's only experience of the legal process and it is vital that experience is truly effective and serves their needs.