Tribunals and Inquiries Act 1958
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1958 c. 66 |
| Year | 1958 |
Tribunals and Inquiries Act , 1958
(6 & 7 Eliz. 2) CHAPTER 66
An Act to constitute a Council on Tribunals; to make further provision as to the appointment, qualifications and removal of the chairman and members, and as to the procedure, of certain tribunals; to provide for appeals to the courts from decisions of, or on appeal from, certain tribunals; to require the giving of reasons for certain decisions of tribunals and Ministers; to extend the supervisory powers of the High Court and the Court of Session; to abolish certain restrictions on appeals from the Court of Session to the House of Lords; to make further provision with respect to the appointment and qualifications of General Commissioners of Income Tax, and provision for the payment of allowances to General and Additional Commissioners; and for purposes connected with the matters aforesaid.
Be it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
1 Council on Tribunals.
(1) There shall be a council, entitled the Council on Tribunals,—
(a ) to keep under review the constitution and working of the tribunals specified in the First Schedule to this Act (being the tribunals constituted under or for the purposes of the statutory provisions specified in that Schedule), and, from time to time, to report on their constitution and working;
(b ) to consider and report on such particular matters as may be referred to the Council under this Act with respect to tribunals other than the ordinary courts of law, whether or not specified in the First Schedule to this Act, or any such tribunal;
(c ) to consider and report on such matters as may be referred as aforesaid, or as the Council may determine to be of special importance, with respect to administrative procedures involving, or which may involve, the holding by or on behalf of a Minister of a statutory inquiry, or any such procedure.
(2) The Council on Tribunals (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Council’) shall consist of not more than fifteen nor less than ten members appointed by the Lord Chancellor and the Secretary of State, and one of the members shall be so appointed to be chairman of the Council.
(3) There shall be a Scottish Committee of the Council (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Scottish Committee’) which shall consist of either two or three members of the Council designated by the Secretary of State and either three or four persons, not being members of the Council, appointed by the Secretary of State; and the Secretary of State shall appoint one of the members of the Scottish Committee (being a member of the Council) to be chairman of the Scottish Committee.
(4) In appointing members of the Council regard shall be had to the need for representation of the interests of persons in Wales.
(5) The members of the Council and the persons appointed to be members of the Scottish Committee shall hold and vacate office under the terms of the instruments under which they are appointed, but may resign office by notice in writing to the Ministers or Minister by whom they were appointed; and any such member who ceases to hold office shall be eligible for re-appointment.
(6) There shall be paid to the chairman of the Council and the chairman of the Scottish Committee such salaries, and to the other members of the Council and of the Scottish Committee such fees (if any), as may be determined by the Treasury.
(7) The salaries and fees payable under the foregoing subsection, together with such expenses of the Council and of the Scottish Committee (including subsistence allowances for and travelling expenses of their members) as may be approved by the Treasury, shall be defrayed out of moneys provided by Parliament.
(8) Part II of the First Schedule to the House of Commons Disqualification Act, 1957 (which specifies certain commissions and other bodies all members of which are disqualified under that Act) and the Part substituted for the said Part II by the Third Schedule to that Act in its application to the Senate and the House of Commons of Northern Ireland, shall have effect as if after the entry relating to the Commonwealth Telecommunications Board there were inserted ‘The Council on Tribunals’ and after the entry relating to the Restrictive Practices Court there were inserted ‘The Scottish Committee of the Council on Tribunals’.
(9) Nothing in subsection (1) of this section shall authorise or require the Council to deal with any matter with respect to which the Parliament of Northern Ireland has power to make laws.
2 Reports of, and references to, Council and Scottish Committee.
(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, any report by, or reference to, the Council shall be made to, or as the case may be by, the Lord Chancellor and the Secretary of State.
(2) A reference to the Council of a matter relating only to England and Wales may be made by the Lord Chancellor, and a reference to the Council of a matter relating only to Scotland may be made by the Secretary of State; and the report of the Council on a reference so made shall be made to the Minister making the reference.
(3) The Council shall not make a report on any such tribunal as is specified in Part II of the First Schedule to this Act, or on any matter referred to the Council by the Secretary of State, until the Council have referred the matter of the report for consideration, and report to the Council, by the Scottish Committee and have considered the report of that Committee.
(4) Where, without any reference having been made to them, the Council report on any such matter as is mentioned in paragraph (c ) of subsection (1) of section one of this Act, then—
(a ) if the matter relates only to England and Wales, subsection (2) of this section shall apply as if the matter had been referred to the Council by the Lord Chancellor,
(b ) if the matter relates only to Scotland, the two foregoing subsections shall apply as if the matter had been referred to them by the Secretary of State.
(5) The Scottish Committee may of its own motion make a report to the Council with respect to the constitution or working of any such tribunal as is specified in Part II of the First Schedule to this Act or with respect to any matter falling within paragraph (c ) of subsection (1) of the foregoing section and relating only to Scotland.
(6) If the Council, in reporting on any matter which they have referred to the Scottish Committee or on which that Committee has reported to the Council of its own motion, do not adopt the report of that Committee without modification, or if the Council do not make a report on matters on which the Scottish Committee has reported to the Council of its own motion, the Scottish Committee may submit its report to the Secretary of State.
(7) The Council shall make an annual report to the Lord Chancellor and the Secretary of State on their proceedings and those of the Scottish Committee, and the Lord Chancellor and the Secretary of State shall lay the annual report before Parliament with such comments (if any) as they think fit.
3 Chairman etc. of certain tribunals: provisions as to appointment.
(1) The chairman, or any person appointed to act as chairman, of any of the tribunals to which this subsection applies shall (without prejudice to any statutory provisions as to qualifications) be selected by the appropriate authority from a panel of persons appointed by the Lord Chancellor.
(2) Members of panels constituted under this section shall hold and vacate office under the terms of the instruments under which they are appointed, but may resign office by notice in writing to the Lord Chancellor; and any such member who ceases to hold office shall be eligible for re-appointment.
(3) Subsection (1) of this section applies to any such tribunal as is specified in paragraph 9, sub-paragraph (a ) of paragraph 11, sub-paragraph (a ) or (b ) of paragraph 12, sub-paragraph (a ), (b ) or (e ) of paragraph 13 or paragraph 19 of the First Schedule to this Act.
(4) One of the members of any such board of referees as is specified in paragraph 3 of the First Schedule to this Act shall be designated by the appropriate authority to be chairman of the board; and that member, and any such single referee as is specified in the said paragraph 3, shall be a person selected by the appropriate authority from a panel of persons appointed by the Lord Chancellor.
(5) The person or persons constituting any such tribunal as is specified in paragraph 8 of the First Schedule to this Act shall be appointed by the Lord Chancellor, and where such a tribunal consists of more than one person the Lord Chancellor shall designate which of them is to be the chairman.
(6) In this section ‘the appropriate authority’ means the Minister who apart from this Act would be empowered to appoint or select the chairman, person to act as chairman, members or member of the tribunal in question.
(7) A panel may be constituted under this section for the purposes either of a single tribunal or of two or more tribunals, whether or not of the same description.
(8) This section shall come into operation on the appointed day; but—
(a ) any person appointed by the appropriate authority before that day to be chairman of any tribunal to which subsection (1) of this section applies shall on and after that day and during the continuance of his appointment be deemed to be a member of a panel constituted by the Lord Chancellor for the purposes of that tribunal and to have been selected by the appropriate authority to be chairman of the tribunal;
(b ) any person appointed by the appropriate...
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