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Tribunals (part 1) - Coggle Diagram
Tribunals (part 1)
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Brief on tribunals
Idea of tribunals:
- Has a long history dating back to 1799, but use of it significantly increased in the 2nd World War
- Reasons for its increase in use was the expansion of role of the state + use of legislation, which significantly increase public involvement in application of law
- It will cause excessive demands on judicial time + cost to resolve disputes in ordinary courts
- System of tribunals are developed to resolve these problems
What is a tribunal?
- They are a specialist court set up by government to deal with disputes in a particular/specialist category
- They are inferior to superior courts and can be subjected to judicial review if breach of natural justice/exceed their powers is found: R (Cart) v Upper Tribunal (2011)
- Judicial bodies whose operations are different compared to ordinary courts are informal and flexible in their proceedings
- Specialised places where people go to resolve legal disputes of specific nature
- Staffed with specialist decision-makers
- Tribunals still require proper conduct following principles of natural justice i.e. giving fair hearing to all parties
Examples of tribunals in the UK:
- Employment Tribunal
- Employment Appeals Tribunal
- Immigration and Asylum Tribunal
- Criminal Injuries and Compensation Authority
Disadvantages
- They have specific areas of jurisdiction:
- Matters can only be referred to a tribunal if there is a tribunal to adjudicate cases in that area
- Proceedings not open to public:
- Increase suspicions on fairness in proceedings
- Insufficient legal aid at first instance (First Tier Tribunals):
- They are not funded by Legal Aid Agency
Composition
- Governing legislation: Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007
- Tribunals consist of a judge and 2 lay persons who have specific expertise in subject area
- Some cases are heard by judge sitting alone e.g. Employment Tribunal
- Tribunal members are appointed by Lord Chancellor
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