Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Bill [HL]

House of Commons

Session 2006 - 07
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Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Bill [HL]

Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Bill [HL]
Part 1 — Tribunals and Inquiries
Chapter 1 — Tribunal judiciary: independence and Senior President
1

[NOTE: The words marked in bold type were inserted by the Lords to avoid
questions of privilege.]
A
Bill
To
Make provision about tribunals and inquiries; to establish an Administrative
Justice and Tribunals Council; to amend the law relating to judicial
appointments; to amend the law relating to the enforcement of judgments and
debts; to make further provision about the management and relief of debt; to
make provision protecting cultural objects from seizure or forfeiture in certain
circumstances; to amend the law relating to the taking of possession of land
affected by compulsory purchase; to alter the powers of the High Court in
judicial review applications; and for connected purposes.
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:—
Part 1
Tribunals and Inquiries
Chapter 1
Tribunal judiciary: independence and Senior President
1
Independence of tribunal judiciary
5
In section 3 of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 (c. 4) (guarantee of
continued judicial independence), after subsection (7) insert—
“(7A)
In this section “the judiciary” also includes every person who—
(a)
holds an office listed in Schedule 14 or holds an office listed in
subsection (7B), and
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(b)
but for this subsection would not be a member of the judiciary
for the purposes of this section.
(7B)
The offices are those of—
(a)
Senior President of Tribunals;
(b)
President of Employment Tribunals (Scotland);
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Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Bill [HL]
Part 1 — Tribunals and Inquiries
Chapter 2 — First-tier Tribunal and Upper Tribunal
2

(c)
Vice President of Employment Tribunals (Scotland);
(d)
member of a panel of chairmen of Employment Tribunals
(Scotland);
(e)
member of a panel of members of employment tribunals that is
not a panel of chairmen;
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(f)
adjudicator appointed under section 5 of the Criminal Injuries
Compensation Act 1995.”
2
Senior President of Tribunals
(1)
Her Majesty may, on the recommendation of the Lord Chancellor, appoint a
person to the office of Senior President of Tribunals.
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(2)
Schedule 1 makes further provision about the Senior President of Tribunals
and about recommendations for appointment under subsection (1).
(3)
A holder of the office of Senior President of Tribunals must, in carrying out the
functions of that office, have regard to—
(a)
the need for tribunals to be accessible,
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(b)
the need for proceedings before tribunals—
(i)
to be fair, and
(ii)
to be handled quickly and efficiently,
(c)
the need for members of tribunals to be experts in the subject-matter of,
or the law to be applied in, cases in which they decide matters, and
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(d)
the need to develop innovative methods of resolving disputes that are
of a type that may be brought before tribunals.
(4)
In subsection (3) “tribunals” means—
(a)
the First-tier Tribunal,
(b)
the Upper Tribunal,
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(c)
employment tribunals,
(d)
the Employment Appeal Tribunal, and
(e)
the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal.
Chapter 2
First-tier Tribunal and Upper Tribunal
30
Establishment
3
The First-tier Tribunal and the Upper Tribunal
(1)
There is to be a tribunal, known as the First-tier Tribunal, for the purpose of
exercising the functions conferred on it under or by virtue of this Act or any
other Act.
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(2)
There is to be a tribunal, known as the Upper Tribunal, for the purpose of
exercising the functions conferred on it under or by virtue of this Act or any
other Act.
(3)
Each of the First-tier Tribunal, and the Upper Tribunal, is to consist of its judges
and other members.
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Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Bill [HL]
Part 1 — Tribunals and Inquiries
Chapter 2 — First-tier Tribunal and Upper Tribunal
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(4)
The Senior President of Tribunals is to preside over both of the First-tier
Tribunal and the Upper Tribunal.
(5)
The Upper Tribunal is to be a superior court of record.
Members and composition of tribunals
4
Judges and other members of the First-tier Tribunal
5
(1)
A person is a judge of the First-tier Tribunal if the person—
(a)
is a judge of the First-tier Tribunal by virtue of appointment under
paragraph 1(1) of Schedule 2,
(b)
is a transferred-in judge of the First-tier Tribunal (see section 31(2)),
(c)
is a judge of the Upper Tribunal,
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(d)
is a member of the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal appointed under
paragraph 2(1)(a) to (d) of Schedule 4 to the Nationality, Immigration
and Asylum Act 2002 (c. 41) (legally qualified members) and is not a
judge of the Upper Tribunal, or
(e)
is a member of a panel of chairmen of employment tribunals.
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(2)
A person is also a judge of the First-tier Tribunal, but only as regards functions
of the tribunal in relation to appeals such as are mentioned in subsection (1) of
section 5 of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Act 1995 (c. 53), if the person
is an adjudicator appointed under that section by the Scottish Ministers.
(3)
A person is one of the other members of the First-tier Tribunal if the person—
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(a)
is a member of the First-tier Tribunal by virtue of appointment under
paragraph 2(1) of Schedule 2,
(b)
is a transferred-in other member of the First-tier Tribunal (see section
31(2)),
(c)
is one of the other members of the Upper Tribunal, or
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(d)
is a member of a panel of members of employment tribunals that is not
a panel of chairmen of employment tribunals.
(4)
Schedule 2—
contains provision for the appointment of persons to be judges or other
members of the First-tier Tribunal, and
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makes further provision in connection with judges and other members of
the First-tier Tribunal.
5
Judges and other members of the Upper Tribunal
(1)
A person is a judge of the Upper Tribunal if the person—
(a)
is the Senior President of Tribunals,
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(b)
is a judge of the Upper Tribunal by virtue of appointment under
paragraph 1(1) of Schedule 3,
(c)
is a transferred-in judge of the Upper Tribunal (see section 31(2)),
(d)
is a member of the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal appointed under
paragraph 2(1)(a) to (d) of Schedule 4 to the Nationality, Immigration
40
and Asylum Act 2002 (legally qualified members) who—
(i)
is the President or a Deputy President of that tribunal, or
(ii)
has the title Senior Immigration Judge but is neither the
President nor a Deputy President of that tribunal,

Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Bill [HL]
Part 1 — Tribunals and Inquiries
Chapter 2 — First-tier Tribunal and Upper Tribunal
4

(e)
is the Chief Social Security Commissioner, or any other Social Security
Commissioner, appointed under section 50(1) of the Social Security
Administration (Northern Ireland) Act 1992 (c. 8),
(f)
is a Social Security Commissioner appointed under section 50(2) of that
Act (deputy Commissioners),
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(g)
is within section 6(1),
(h)
is a deputy judge of the Upper Tribunal (whether under paragraph 7 of
Schedule 3 or under section 31(2)), or
(i)
is a Chamber President or a Deputy Chamber President, whether of a
chamber of the Upper Tribunal or of a chamber of the First-tier
10
Tribunal, and does not fall within any of paragraphs (a) to (h).
(2)
A person is one of the other members of the Upper Tribunal if the person—
(a)
is a member of the Upper Tribunal by virtue of appointment under
paragraph 2(1) of Schedule 3,
(b)
is a transferred-in other member of the Upper Tribunal (see section
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31(2)),
(c)
is a member of the Employment Appeal Tribunal appointed under
section 22(1)(c) of the Employment Tribunals Act 1996 (c. 17), or
(d)
is a member of the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal appointed under
paragraph 2(1)(e) of Schedule 4 to the Nationality, Immigration and
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Asylum Act 2002 (c. 41) (members other than “legally qualified
members”).
(3)
Schedule 3—
contains provision for the appointment of persons to be judges (including
deputy judges), or other members, of the Upper Tribunal, and
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makes further provision in connection with judges and other members of
the Upper Tribunal.
6
Certain judges who are also judges of First-tier Tribunal and Upper Tribunal
(1)
A person is within this subsection (and so, by virtue of sections 4(1)(c) and
5(1)(g), is a judge of the First-tier Tribunal and of the Upper Tribunal) if the
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person—
(a)
is an ordinary judge of the Court of Appeal in England and Wales
(including the vice-president, if any, of either division of that Court),
(b)
is a Lord Justice of Appeal in Northern Ireland,
(c)
is a judge of the Court of Session,
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(d)
is a puisne judge of the High Court in England and Wales or Northern
Ireland,
(e)
is a circuit judge,
(f)
is a sheriff in Scotland,
(g)
is a county court judge in Northern Ireland,
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(h)
is a district judge in England and Wales or Northern Ireland, or
(i)
is a District Judge (Magistrates’ Courts).
(2)
References in subsection (1)(c) to (i) to office-holders do not include deputies
or temporary office-holders.