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Tribunals
Tribunals operate alongside the court system and are an important part of our modern legal system. After the Second World War the welfare state was established giving people many new social and welfare rights. Tribunals were established in order to give people a way of enforcing these new rights.
Tribunals now deal with a number of different rights and issues, including,
Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007
The welfare state grew in a piecemeal way in the second half of the last century with new tribunals being established as and when necessary to enable people to enforce their new rights. This resulted in there being more than 70 different types of tribunals many using different procedures. This made the tribunal system complicated, confusing and inefficient. The Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 reformed the system creating a unified structure with a First-tier Tribunal to hear cases at first instance (the original hearing of the case) and an Upper Tribunal to hear appeals.
First-tier Tribunals
These deal with around 300,000 cases every year and have nearly 200 Tribunal Judges and 3,600 lay members. It operates in seven different Chambers or divisions as follows;
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The Social Entitlement Chamber
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The Health, Education and Social Care Chamber
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The War Pensions and Armed Forces Compensation Chamber
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The General regulatory Chamber
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The Taxation Chamber
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The Land, Property and Housing Chamber
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The Asylum and Immigration Chamber
There is also the Employment Tribunal which will continue to operate outside of the new system and is separate from the First-tier Tribunal.
To visit the Employment Tribunal website click here
Upper Tribunal
The Upper Tribunal is divided into four Chambers as follows;
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The Administrative Appeals Chamber
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The Tax and Chancery Chamber
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The Lands Chamber
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The Asylum and Immigration Chamber
From the Upper Tribunal there is a possible further appeal to the Court of Appeal and then onto the Supreme Court.
The Administrative Justice and Tribunals Council
This body oversees the work of tribunals and replaces the Council on Tribunals. It was established under the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 and its duties include;
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Keeping the working of tribunals under review
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Reporting on the constitution and working of tribunals
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Considering and reporting on any other matter relating to tribunals
Members of the 'Council' can attend any tribunal as an observer to help them carry out their duties.
To find out more about the Administrative Justice and Tribunals Council visit their website by clicking here
Composition of and procedure in tribunals
Cases in the First-tier Tribunal are heard by a Tribunal Judge. Some types of cases will also be heard by two lay members who will be experts in the field of the tribunal where they are hearing the case. Hearings in tribunals are usually more informal than courts and legal funding is not usually available. This means that applicants will present their case themselves. In some tribunals witnesses are called and they give evidence on oath, this is the case for example in Asylum Tribunals. The decision of a tribunal is legally binding although as mentioned above further appeals are possible.
Advantages of Tribunals
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Cheapness
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Quicker Hearings
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Informality
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Expertise
Disadvantages of Tribunals
To visit the website of the 'Tribunals Service' click here
Search for more on tribunals direct from here!
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