Case Management

AuthorAndrew Bano
Pages227-233

Chapter 27


Case Management

CASE MANAGEMENT POWERS
27.1 The War Pensions and Armed Forces Compensation Chamber of the First-tier Tribunal in England and Wales and the Pensions Appeal Tribunals in Scotland and Northern Ireland have powers under their rules to control the conduct of proceedings before them in order to ensure that appeals are dealt with fairly, efficiently and with the minimum of delay. In England and Wales, those powers are mostly conferred by rule 5 of the England and Wales Procedure Rules and the powers under that rule are called case management powers. Amendments to the England and Wales Procedure Rules made in 2020 allow for judicial functions to be exercised by tribunal staff, with a right to apply within 14 days for any decision to be reconsidered by a judge,1and the Senior President of Tribunals has issued a Practice Statement authorising an appropriately trained member of staff, called a ‘caseworker’, to exercise judicial functions, with the exception of making substantive final decisions, under the supervision of a judge and in accordance with guidance issued by the Chamber President.2Following amendments in 1998 to the Scotland and Northern Ireland Procedure Rules,3

tribunal Presidents, or tribunal members nominated by the President, were given powers to review the documents in the Statement of Case, specifically in order to consider whether further information or evidence needed to be obtained on any point, or whether it was necessary to obtain a specialist medical or technical expert’s report.4In Scotland, the timetable for reviewing the documents in the case and giving consequential directions is now governed by rule 5A of the

1By the Tribunal Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2020 (SI 2020/651).

2Practice Statement authorising Tribunal Caseworkers First-tier Tribunal (War Pensions and Armed Forces Compensation Chamber) to carry out specific functions, 14 December 2020.

3By the Pensions Appeal Tribunals (Scotland) (Amendment) Rules 1998 (SI 1998/1225)

(Scottish SI) and the Pensions Appeal Tribunals (Northern Ireland) Amendment Rules 1998 (SR 1998/265).

4Scotland and Northern Ireland Procedure Rules, r 5A.

228 War Pensions and Armed Forces Compensation – Law and Practice

Scotland Procedure Rules, which was added by the Pensions Appeal Tribunals (Scotland) (Amendment) Rules 2017.5In England and Wales, appeals are routinely referred for case management following receipt of the Statement of Case.

27.2 Rule 2(3) of the England and Wales Procedure Rules requires the tribunal to give effect to the ‘overriding objective’ of the Rules when it exercises any power under the Rules or interprets any rule or practice direction. Rule 2(1) defines the overriding objective as ‘to enable the Tribunal to deal with cases fairly and justly’, and by rule 2(2) ‘dealing with a case justly and fairly’ includes:

(a) dealing with the case in ways which are proportionate to the importance of the case, the complexity of the issues, the anticipated costs and the resources of the parties;

(b) avoiding unnecessary formality and seeking flexibility in the proceedings;
(c) ensuring, so far as practicable, that the parties are able to participate fully in the proceedings;

(d) using any special expertise of the Tribunal effectively; and
(e) avoiding delay, so far as compatible with proper consideration of the issues.

Rule 2(4) requires the parties to help the tribunal to further the overriding objective and to co-operate with the tribunal generally.

27.3 Rule 5(1) and (2) of the England and Wales Procedure Rules gives the tribunal broad power to regulate its own procedure and issue directions, including the power to extend or shorten the time for complying with any rule, practice direction or direction (rule 5(3)(a)), to consolidate or hear together part or all of two or more cases (rule 5(3)(b)), to permit or require a party or another person to provide documents, information, evidence or submissions (rule 5(3)(d)), to deal with an issue as a...

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