Tribunal reform: Unified Courts and Tribunals System by April 2011The Ministry of Justice has announced that Her Majesty's Court Service and the Tribunals Service will be integrated into a new, single organisation by April 2011. The aim is to have the integrated organisation's Chief Executive and senior management team in place by that time, and they will then drive forward further changes. The Ministry stated that the new structure will preserve the unique and distinctive features of both systems for the benefit of all users. Proposals are being developed over the coming months and a full consultation process, including with stakeholders in Scotland and Ireland, is awaited. In other Tribunals Service news, a new appeal route has been created with the launch of an Environmental jurisdiction in the First-tier Tribunal. The Financial Services and Markets Tribunal (FINSMAT) and the Pensions Regulator Tribunal (PRT) have also now transferred into the Upper Tribunal where they have joined the Tax and Chancery Chamber. Options for Tribunal Reform in Scotland –
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At a conference in Edinburgh on 22 June 2010 the Scottish Committee of the AJTC launched a discussion paper on options for the reform of tribunals in Scotland. The paper suggests core principles and models for tribunal reform, and seeks views on the issues that must be addressed to establish a Scottish Tribunals Service. |
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Feature
Michael Adler – 'Administrative Justice in Context' – A new publication which reflects the growing interest in administrative justice (pdf, 0.1MB)
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Professor Michael Adler, editor of the new book 'Administrative Justice in Context', discusses the book's beginnings as a series of seminars. The seminar papers, and substantial additional contributions, have been turned into a publication that looks at the context in which administrative decision-making takes place; how the concept of administrative justice can be analysed and understood; the application of administrative justice principles of decision-making by private bodies; approaches to administrative justice in Australia, the Netherlands and Scandinavia; and current developments in the UK. |
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Northern Ireland Conference june 2010:
Advancing Tribunal Reform
AJTC member Brian Thompson and Chairman Richard Thomas were both speakers at this Law Centre (NI) event in Belfast on 23 June 2010, examining issues around the work of tribunals and their oversight. A major new report 'Redressing Users' Disadvantage: Proposals for Tribunal Reform in Northern Ireland' by Gráinne McKeever and Brian Thompson, looking at the user experience of tribunals and proposes a road-map for tribunal reform, was also launched at the conference. The phased transfer of administrative responsibility for Northern Ireland Tribunals to the Northern Ireland Court Service has continued in recent months with the transfer of the Appeals Tribunals and the Rent Assessment Panel. With the devolution of policing and justice on 12 April 2010, the Northern Ireland Court Service has become the Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Service, an agency of the new Department of Justice.
News
Court of Appeal rules that Upper Tribunal is subject to judicial review
On 23 July 2010 the Court of Appeal (Civil Division) issued its judgment in Cart, R (on the application of) v The Upper Tribunal & Ors [2010] EWCA Civ 859. The question for the Court was whether – despite the Upper Tribunal's legislative status as a superior court of record with the same powers, rights and privileges and authority as the High Court – the Upper Tribunal is subject to the jurisdiction of the High Court by way of judicial review. The Court of Appeal ruled that the Upper Tribunal is amenable to judicial review, but only on grounds of outright excess of jurisdiction or denial of procedural justice.
Rapid rise in number of cases going to tribunals
The Tribunals Service has published annual statistics for 2009-10. The statistics reveal that in 2009-10, the Tribunals Service received 793,900 appeals, an increase of 26% on the 631,900 received in the previous year. Between 2008-09 and 2009-10 there was a 40% increase in the number of Social Security and Child Support Agency receipts and a 56% rise in claims to Employment Tribunals.
Vetting and barring registration halted
Registration with the Vetting and Barring Scheme in order to work or volunteer with children and vulnerable adults has been halted to allow the government to review and remodel the scheme. The Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) will continue its role of barring people considered unsuitable to work with children and/or vulnerable adults. The AJTC will use the review of the scheme as an opportunity to raise its previously expressed concern about the limited right of appeal from the ISA to the Upper Tribunal.
Government response to Work and Pensions Committee report
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In April the previous Government published its response to the report of the Work and Pensions Committee on decision making and appeals in the benefits system. The AJTC plans to write to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to express concerns about the inadequacy of the previous Government's response to specific recommendations made by the Committee. |
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Recent Legislation
The Equality Act harmonises and extends anti-discrimination legislation to cover a number of protected characteristics. The Act also widens the power of employment tribunals to make recommendations in cases where unlawful discrimination has been proved, and introduces a requirement for large companies to publish their gender pay gaps.
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The Crime and Security Act introduces a licensing scheme for wheel clampers and an appeal mechanism for the recovery of charges for vehicle release and for costs incurred by the appellant as a consequence of wheel clamping. |
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The Children, Schools and Families Act includes provisions for an additional right of appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability) for parents where the local authority decides not to amend a statement of special educational needs following a review. Previously a right of appeal only existed where the statement had been amended by the local authority.
Social Fund Commissioner: Response to Green Paper
Newly appointed Commissioner for the Social Fund, Karamjit Singh CBE, has responded to the Social Fund Reform Green Paper, issued by the Department for Work and Pensions earlier this year.
Education
Schools Adjudicator reports on fraudulent school admission applications
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Following the Chief Schools Adjudicator's October 2009 report (doc, 0.1MB) on fraudulent and misleading school admissions, the Secretary of State asked for recommendations on further sanctions where it can be proved that parents have knowingly used deception to gain a school place. |
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Dr Ian Craig, the Chief Schools Adjudicator, has now written a follow-up report (pdf, 0.1MB), to which the (then) Secretary of State responded (pdf, 0.7MB).
DfE: School admission appeal statistics published
The latest national statistics on Admissions Appeals in 2008/09, produced by the Department for Education, were released on 10 June 2010. The statistics give information about appeals lodged by parents against non-admission of their children to their preferred school, detailing the number of appeals lodged, heard and the outcome. The report shows that the number of appeals heard by a panel continues to rise, but the percentage of appeals decided in favour of parents has decreased.
Immigration and Asylum
High Court ruling: fast-track deportation unlawful
The High Court has recently ruled that a Home Office policy of allowing fast-track deportations of failed asylum-seekers, which gives them little or no notice of their immediate removal, is unlawful. The case was brought by charity Medical Justice, which argued that the policy denied people basic access to justice by preventing them from launching last minute challenges against their removal.
Independent Chief Inspector of the UK Border Agency publishes two new reports
The Independent Chief Inspector John Vine has published a report focussed on the efficiency and effectiveness of the UK Border agency's approach to removing families who have no right to remain in the United Kingdom. The report found significant weaknesses in current family removal procedures and no processes in place to collect, analyse and publish information on families who are subject to removal.
John Vine also published a report on his inspection of the UK Visa Section, which examined the UK Border Agency's handling of Pakistan settlement applications. The report found that the service provided to customers at the UK Visa section was extremely poor, significant numbers of cases were not decided correctly and in some cases, visas were refused when they should have been granted.
Immigration for detainees failed by bail process (pdf 0.5MB)
The charity Bail for Immigration Detainees (BID), which assists detainees to apply for release from immigration detention, has published a major research report which examines the entire bail process for immigration detainees. The report highlights a range of systemic problems including the lack of a statutory time limit to immigration detention, inaccessibility of the bail process to detainees and the lack of practice guidelines to inform decision-making of immigration judges.
People
New MoJ Minister
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A new Minister, Jonathan Djanogly MP, was appointed as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice on 14 May 2010. Jonathan's responsibilities include HM Courts Service, Tribunals and administrative justice. |
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Ombudsmen
Ombudsmen publish end of year reviews of councils in England
The performance of councils in England on complaints investigated by the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) in 2009/10 is set out in individual 'annual reviews', published on 19 July 2010. Each annual review provides a summary of the complaints the LGO has dealt with about a council in the year 2009/10, including statistical data. All the reviews are listed in an A-to-Z on the LGO website.
PHSO Report: Pensions Regulator
The PHSO has published a report on her investigation into a complaint about the Pensions Regulator, in which she found no maladministration and did not uphold the complaint.
Joint Ombudsmen report on two cases published
A report of two investigations carried out jointly by the Local Government Ombudsman and the Health Service Ombudsman has been published. The unrelated complaints were about services provided by two councils and three NHS trusts, and concerned in part the actions of staff working in mental health services.
Greater joint working between Ombudsman services for social housing
The Local Government Ombudsman and the Housing Ombudsman Service have signed a 'protocol' to promote greater joint working and sharing of information between them. This will benefit social housing tenants who feel that their complaints have not been dealt with satisfactorily by their landlords.
LGO launches new schools complaints service
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The Local Government Ombudsman has launched a new complaints service for parents and children with complaints about internal school matters that have failed to be resolved locally. The service will initially cover only four local authority areas, with plans for more to be added in the future. |
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Research
LSRC research: 'Knowledge, capability and experience of rights problems'
The Public Legal Education Network (Plenet) has published research undertaken by the Legal Services Research Centre looking at the knowledge and capability of the population of England and Wales in the context of social and civil legal issues.
Judicial Mediation in Employment Tribunals
Research evaluating a pilot of judicial mediation in Employment Tribunals in Newcastle, Central London and Birmingham has now been published.
International
Alison Christou – The 'good' tribunal member – an aretaic approach to administrative tribunal practice (pdf, 0.2MB)
In her article, first published in the University of Queensland Law Journal (Volume 28, Number 2, 2009), Alison Christou argues that there is a need to actively develop the normative excellences - or the 'do's' - of the tribunal member's role. She discusses an aretaic approach to tribunal decision-making, which details the desirable characteristics of a 'model' tribunal adjudicator. Most Australian tribunals are inquisitorial rather than adversarial, and Alison moots the idea that, in this context, 'practical wisdom' (or the Aristotelian requirement of phronesis) becomes centrally relevant.
Terence Ison – Administrative law – the operational realities (pdf, 0.1MB)
Terence Ison's article, first published in the Canadian Journal of Administrative Law and Practice (Volume 22, Number 3, 2009), discusses the importance for lawyers of understanding the operational realities of the administrative system under consideration. Terence illustrates his points with examples from his experience in Canada and other countries.
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Promoting fairness and redress | ADJUST AUGUST 2010 |  |