RECENT CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENTS IN THE COURTS OF ENGLAND

RECENT CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENTS IN THE COURTS OF ENGLAND & WALES Four Lectures delivered in the Law Faculty of the University of Trier by Dr Augur Pearce Cardiff University

Lecture 1 Tribunals in the Judicial System of England & Wales

The starting-point • Traditionally England & Wales have enjoyed a unitary court system – Dicey, Law of the Constitution, 1885, contrasted French administrative law with a system where ‘every man, whatever his rank or condition, is subject to the ordinary law and the jurisdiction of the ordinary courts’ – Administrative law has developed since the 1960 s in the Queen’s Bench Division of the High Court • Compare German Sozial-, Finanz-, Arbeits- and Verwaltungsgerichte

History of Tribunals • Slow beginnings – 1798 General Commissioners of Income Tax – 1911 Committee of Referees under the National Insurance Act – 1929 Attack by Lord Hewart CJ in The New Despotism – 1932 Donoughmore Report concludes undesirable but necessary – 1955 Franks Report concludes must be open, fair, impartial, but need not rely on adversarial principle

Arguments for Tribunals • Expertise – valuation, medical/psychiatric, labour conditions, &c. – not confined to decisions on evidence • Flexibility – no rules of precedent between coordinate tribunals – originally few decisions reported • Informality leads to speed, economy, popularity – hearsay not excluded, although ‘natural justice’ required – 670, 781 cases heard in tribunals in 2007

‘Judicialisation’ • Tribunals & Inquiries Act 1958 – Council on Tribunals established – Lord Chancellor’s involvement in appointment of Tribunal Chairmen – Duty to give reasons for decisions on request – Appeal to High Court on points of law • European Convention on Human Rights – Art 6: independent & impartial tribunal to determine civil rights & obligations

New developments • 2001: Leggatt Report recommends unified Tribunal service • 2006: extra-statutory creation of the service • 2007: Tribunals Courts and Enforcement Act – Part I aims: – assimilate practices & procedures – allow member-sharing – rationalise appeal routes efficiency, user-friendliness, new legal career path

New developments • 2007: Administrative Justice and Tribunals Council replaces Council on Tribunals • 2007: Lord Justice Carnwath appointed ‘Senior President of Tribunals’ – LCJ-equivalent in the Tribunal world, all-UK responsibilities • 2008: Senior President produces two ‘implementation reviews’ – judicial oath and titles for ‘Chairmen’ • 2008: New structure effective, 3 November

First-tier Tribunal • Social Entitlement Chamber – State benefits, criminal injuries compensation, gender recognition • Health, Education and Social Care Chamber – mental health review, special educational needs, disability • • War Pensions & Armed Forces Compensation Chamber Land, Property & Housing Chamber Taxation Chamber (from April 09) General Regulatory Chamber (from April 09)

Upper Tribunal • Finance & Tax Chamber • Lands Chamber • Administrative Appeals Chamber further appeal, with permission, to the Court of Appeal

Not [presently] incorporated • Employment Tribunals • Employment Appeal Tribunal (appeal to Court of Appeal) • Asylum & Immigration Tribunal (appeal to High Court) • Administrative Court (within High Court, QBD)

Conclusion • An end to the ‘Cinderella status’ of Tribunals • Perhaps an increased emphasis on Tribunals in English Legal System education?