2 April, 2020 Open access
2 April, 2020 Open access
New Practice Direction includes guidance on when to proceed to determine appeals without an oral hearing and when remote hearings may be appropriate
The Social Entitlement Chamber President has issued further guidance to First-tier Tribunal social security judges on contingency arrangements during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Practice Direction, issued by the acting President of the Social Entitlement Chamber Mary Clarke, supplements guidance in Contingency arrangements and Panel composition Pilot Practice Directions issued by the Senior President of Tribunals, providing directions to Social Security and Child Support (SSCS) judges to enable them to adjust their ways of working during the coronavirus outbreak
Covering appeals that may be decided outright, or issued with a provisional decision when dealt with under the HM Courts and Tribunals Service 'triage process' (as outlined in its 2019/2020 Innovation Plan for modernising tribunals), the guidance advises that salaried judges should ‘sift' appeals to assess whether appeals are appropriate to decide without an oral hearing, Where an appeal cannot be fairly and justly allowed 'on the balance of probabilities on available evidence', judges are advised that they should consider whether to -
Finally, the guidance sets out suggested wording for decision notices - including for cases decided on the papers alone, by telephone, or where a provisional decision has been issued without an oral hearing - together with general guidance on how judges should proceed during the crisis when deciding the composition of tribunals and when making decisions.
For more information see Chamber President’s Guidance Note No.3. (Social Security and Child Support) from judiciary.uk
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