The Mental Health Review Tribunal for Wales Rules 2008

JurisdictionUK Non-devolved
CitationSI 2008/2705
  • These Rules may be cited as the Mental Health Review Tribunal for Wales Rules 2008 and come into force on 3rd November 2008.
  • (1) In these Rules—
    • the Act” means the Mental Health Act 1983;
    • applicant” means a person who—
      • (a) starts Tribunal proceedings, whether by making an application or a reference, or
      • (b) is substituted as a party under rule 12 (substitution and addition of parties) ;
    • document” means anything in which information is recorded in any form, and an obligation under these Rules to provide or allow access to a document or a copy of a document for any purpose means, unless the Tribunal directs otherwise, an obligation to provide or allow access to such document or copy in a legible form or in a form which can be readily made into a legible form;
    • final determination” means a decision of the Tribunal which disposes of proceedings, including a decision with recommendations or a deferred decision for conditional discharge, but a refusal of an application for permission to appeal under rule 30 (application for permission to appeal) is not a final determination;
    • hearing” means an oral hearing and includes a hearing conducted in whole or in part by video link, telephone or other means of instantaneous two-way electronic communication;
    • interested party” means a person added as an interested party under rule 12 (substitution and addition of parties) ;
    • F15“legal representative” means a person who, for the purposes of the Legal Services Act 2007, is an authorised person in relation to an activity which constitutes the exercise of a right of audience or the conduct of litigation (within the meaning of that Act) ;
    • party” means the patient, the responsible authority, the Secretary of State (if the patient is a restricted patient) , the Welsh Ministers or Secretary of State in a reference under rule 15(7) (seeking approval under section 86 of the Act) and any other person who starts a case by making an application or referring a matter to the Tribunal under the Act;
    • registered person” means the person or persons registered in respect of a registered establishment;
    • responsible authority” means—
      • (a) in relation to a patient detained under the Act in a hospital within the meaning of Part 2 of that Act, the managers (as defined in section 145 of the Act) ;
      • (b) in relation to a patient subject to guardianship, the responsible local social services authority as defined in section 34(3) of the Act;
      • (c) in relation to a community patient, the managers of the responsible hospital (as defined in section 145 of the Act) ;
      • (d) ...
    • restricted patient” has the meaning set out in section 79(1) of the Act;
    • Tribunal” means the Mental Health Review Tribunal for Wales;
    • working day” means any day except a Saturday or Sunday, Christmas Day, Good Friday or a bank holiday under section 1 of the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971 .
    (2) In these Rules, any reference to a rule or Schedule alone is a reference to a rule or Schedule in these Rules.(1) The overriding objective of these Rules is to enable the Tribunal to deal with cases fairly, justly, efficiently and expeditiously.avoiding unnecessary formality and seeking flexibility in the proceedings;ensuring, so far as practicable, that the parties are able to participate fully in the proceedings;using any special expertise of the Tribunal effectively; andavoiding delay, so far as compatible with proper consideration of the issues.exercises any power under these Rules; orinterprets any rule.
  • As regards matters preliminary or incidental to an application or reference, the
  • (1) The Tribunal may give directions at any time in relation to the conduct or disposal of proceedings.the party requiring the extension or abridgement has shown a good reason why it is necessary; andthe Tribunal considers the extension or abridgement to be in the interests of justice;permit or require a party to amend a document;permit or require a party or another person to provide documents, information or submissions to the Tribunal or, subject to rule 17 (withholding documents or information likely to cause harm) , a party;provide that an issue in the proceedings will be dealt with as a preliminary issue;hold a hearing to consider any matter, including a case management issue;decide the form of any hearing;stay execution of its own decision pending an appeal of such decision;stay proceedings.(3) Rule 6 (directions) sets out the procedures for applying for and giving directions.(1) The Tribunal may give a direction at any time, including a direction amending or suspending an earlier direction.on the application of one or more of the parties; oron its own initiative.(3) An application for directions must include the reason for making that application.by sending or delivering a written application to the Tribunal; ororally during the course of a hearing.(5) Unless the Tribunal considers that there is a good reason not to do so, the Tribunal must send written notice of any direction to every party and any other person affected by the direction.(1) An irregularity resulting from a failure to comply with any provision of these Rules or a direction does not of itself render void the proceedings or any step taken in the proceedings.waiving the requirement; orrequiring the failure to be remedied.(1) An act required by these Rules or a direction to be done on or by a particular day must be done before 5pm on that day.(2) If the time specified by these Rules or a direction for doing any act ends on a day other than a working day, the act is done in time if it is done on the next working day.sent by prepaid post or delivered by hand;sent by facsimile transmission to the number specified by the Tribunal; orsent or delivered by such other method as the Tribunal may permit or direct.(2) Subject to paragraph (3) , a party may inform the Tribunal and all other parties that a particular form of communication (other than pre-paid post or delivery by hand) should not be used to send documents to that party.(3) If a party provides a facsimile transmission number, email address or other details for the electronic transmission of

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