The Hearing
| Author | Andrew Bano |
| Pages | 235-247 |
Chapter 28
The Hearing
COMPOSITION OF THE TRIBUNAL England and Wales
28.1 Under the terms of a Practice Statement issued by the Senior President of Tribunals on 30 October 2008,
Scotland and Northern Ireland
28.2 In Scotland and Northern Ireland, paragraph 2A of the Schedule to the Pensions Appeal Tribunals Act 1943 requires that tribunal members include members who are legally qualified to hold judicial office, persons who are medically qualified, and persons with knowledge or experience of service in the armed forces. There is also a requirement to have regard to the desirability for tribunals to include persons with knowledge or experience of disability issues.
War Pensions and Armed Forces Compensation Chamber on or after 3 November 2008, Senior President of Tribunals (30 October 2008).
236 War Pensions and Armed Forces Compensation – Law and Practice
NOTICE OF HEARING
28.3 Rule 25 of the England and Wales Procedure Rules allows an appeal to be decided without a hearing if the parties do not object and if the tribunal considers that it is able to decide the appeal without a hearing. ‘Paper hearings’ are uncommon in war pensions and armed forces compensation appeals, but may become more frequent. If a case is dealt with in this way, the tribunal’s reasons should show why the tribunal considers that it is able to decide the appeal without a hearing. In Scotland, rule 7 of the Scotland Procedure Rules now requires the tribunal to list a case for hearing 28 days after receiving the appellant’s answer to the Statement of Case, or on the expiry of the period within which an answer may be submitted, but with power to list the case earlier if there is a good reason for doing so.
28.4 Hearings are held wherever possible in a venue which is convenient for the appellant. Rule 27 requires the parties to be given reasonable notice of the time and place of the hearing (including any adjourned or postponed hearing) and of any changes. The period of notice must be at least 14 days unless the parties consent to a shorter period of notice or there are urgent or exceptional circumstances. The period of notice of the hearing required by rule 8 of the Scotland and Northern Ireland Procedure Rules is not less than 10 clear days.
ADJOURNING OR POSTPONING A HEARING
28.5 In England and Wales, the power to adjourn or postpone a hearing is conferred by rule 5(3)(h) of the England and Wales Procedure Rules. It is usual to refer to a hearing being ‘adjourned’ if it has already begun, and being ‘postponed’ if it has not yet taken place. In Scotland and Northern Ireland, there is no express power to postpone a hearing that has not started, but by analogy with the position in courts, tribunals must have an implied power to postpone a hearing
if it is necessary to do so in the interests of justice.
28.6 The power under rule 5 to postpone or adjourn a hearing is discretionary, but the discretion must be exercised judicially
Accordingly, a postponement request should generally be granted if an appellant is prevented from attending a hearing because of illness or an emergency. In CIS/2292/2000,
it was held that a tribunal ought not to bind itself by saying that an appeal must proceed when next listed, although it could make it clear that a case should not be adjourned again except for compelling reasons.
28.7 In MHA v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions,
28.8 In JG v Secretary of State for Defence (AFCS),
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