How many days before Appeal do you have to send Submission/Evidence?

Can you take it along on the day or are there rules as to how long before the appeal you have to send submission/evidence in?  Thanks a lot for any help on this or if you can point me to any rules..

Good practice says that you should generally aim to ensure your submission is with HMCTS at least 14 working days before the hearing date, to avoid the need for adjournments.

You might want to look at this decision which is relevant Whether tribunal properly considered late submission and accompanying evidence. [2013] UKUT 454 (AAC)

@Paul_Treloar_CPAG

Wow.  Thank you so much - I will take a look at the decision..

Paragraphs 18 and 19 were the most useful.  It seems there is no formal deadline but obviously the earlier you make the submission the better.  What is the source for the good practice of submitting 14 days before?  Thanks again..

Rule 29(2) Tribunal Procedure (First-tier Tribunal) (SEC) Rules 2008 stipulates that appellants must be provided with at least 14 days notice of their hearing date.

Other than that, I understand from speaking to HMCTS staff that appeal papers are usually distributed to panel members 10 working days prior to the hearing date, so ensuring any submission and/or evidence is with them before that happens helps to ensure that the panel can properly prepare and read through the documents.

As noted though, there aren’t any hard and fast rules, it’s more the risk of adjournments if sent close to, or presented at, the hearing itself.

@Paul_Treloar_CPAG

Thanks!  So the 14 days is more their deadline then?  And the 10 days is just from speaking to staff - nothing written anywhere - that right?  I just don’t want to be told off and sometimes the time limit is so tight..

CPAG p1316 cites Tribunal Procedure (FT) regs, rule 24, to say that a reply to the DM’s response should be made within one month (i.e. a month AFTER the DWP submission, not a month BEFORE the hearing), though the tribunal may give you longer. Fortunately, it seems that the Soc Security tribunal (almost?) never sets this time limit. Sweet and Maxwell says this time limit “... may be regarded as a minimum period that must be given to the parties before a case is determined and it will seldom be proportionate to refuse to accept a late submission or evidence ...”.

According to the judge who supplied this: “Tribunal Practice and Procedure Workshop – Judge Philip Boyd - 2012”
http://www.somersetadvice.net/uploads/documents/Welfare Rights Conference/JUDGE BOYD - Online Resouce Pack.pdf
( link contains spaces and so is broken, you’ll have to cut and paste it)

... it’s really just a practical issue:

About 10 – 14 days before any hearing a large grey bag of papers drops on my doorstep with the papers in. Sometimes I get additional loose sheets which take 2 to 10 days from receipt in Cardiff to get to me. Sometimes they get to me the day after the hearing if I leave home before the postman comes. Sometimes they turn up a week after the hearing. If you post, deliver or fax things to Cardiff or to a venue within a week of the hearing there is a fair chance that they will go astray because of the number of tribunals and clerks using venues and the speed things move through the Cardiff office. If you have a late submission the best thing to do with it is to fax it to the venue at 9 am on the day of the hearing.

I have been told off for turning up with evidence or a submission at the last minute, but never had anything rejected as being late.

Ditto. Obviously the ideal is to make sure the bulk of the evidence/your sub is sent to TS at least two weeks before the hearing date (I iusually flag anything I send as urgent if the appeal has already been listed) but sometimes it is inevitable.  Generally tribunals don’t get too stroppy if you arrive with additional evidence on the day in my experience. I did exactly that this morning with an OT assessment report which client had received only very recently. Just make sure that anything you turn up with is both comparitively short and relevant (and I usually also get an apology for the late evidence in as soon as we are taken into the tribunal room).

@Jon (CHDCAB)
Thanks a lot I will take a look at the references - very useful.

@1964
Thank you as well.

You also need to factor in how long HMCTS will actually take to issue a copy of any submission / evidence sent to the administarative support centre (ASC) to all parties whether sent by email or post.

I have today received a copy from HMCTS of evidence we sent on 7/1/15 and the respondant local authority submission sent on 12/1/15 for a hearing that took place on 22/1/14.

Yes - HMCTS sent out a copy of the documents to the parties 3 weeks after the hearing. Probably not a record though?

HMCTS ASC Birmingham seems to be falling apart again!

With my first ever tribunal I sent submissions in 4 days before the hearing and whilst they were considered, I was certainly reprimanded by the panel judge!  He was very clear that he expected documents to be in at least 14 days prior to the hearing.

My suspicion is that they are having post/correspondence troubles internally and, the judges not being aware, are thinking that representatives are bringing in submissions and evidence on the day of the hearing.

The hearing notice always used to say ‘if you have evidence for the Tribunal please make sure that it is received by this office 7 days before the hearing’. I must admit that I thought that it still did! But a quick shuftie through my filing cabinet reveals that it doesn’t….

I’ve have however been using this as a guide and rarely encounter problems..  Indeed I got back a letter today confirming that a submission sent on Tuseday and received by HMCTS Sutton on Wednesday had been ‘ciruclated to all parties’ prior to a hearing next Thursday. If you’re ‘closer to the wire’ than this then be prepared to explain why things are late.

I conduct a pre tribunal interview with client a week before the hearing. I then prepare a full written submission which I take along to the hearing and give to the clerk to ensure the tribunal read it before the hearing commences. Hundreds of hearings later I have never been taken to task, only complimented on a helpful submission. The same with extra evidence such as medical reports; never had any issues.

Have on occasion had some Chair/Judges get a little ‘miffed’ by my putting a written submission in on the day - if I have to put the submission in on the day I try to keep it short seems threshold is 3 pages.

Did have one Judge consistently suggesting they would be minded to adjourn if I put another written submission in on the day I offered to read it into the evidence if that would make it easier (retaining the additional copies.

I now tend to get the written submission in at least 5 working days prior to the hearing date if possible.

This is really useful to see all the responses and experiences.  Thank you very much..