30 June, 2020 Open access
30 June, 2020 Open access
New statutory instrument
New regulations have been issued in relation to access to recordings of remote tribunal hearings during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
In force from 30 June 2020, the Tribunal Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2020 (SI.No 651/2020) make amendments to Upper Tribunal and First-tier Tribunal procedure rules, including those for the Socal Entitlement Chamber, that insert a temporary provision on access to recordings of remote hearings that was mistakenly omitted (due to a drafting error) from the Tribunal Procedure (Coronavirus) Amendment Rules 2020 (SI.No.416/2020).
The explanatory memorandum to the regulations advises that -
‘The amendment is intended to provide clarity for the practice and procedure governing the recordings of a remote hearing following a person obtaining the Tribunal’s permission to obtain a copy of the recording in instances when the First-tier Tribunal and the Upper Tribunal directs a remote hearing to take place privately and it is not practicable for that hearing to be broadcasted to the public in a Court or Tribunal building.’
NB - the amendment of each set of Rules will expire on the same day as section 55(b) of the Coronavirus Act 2020, ceasing to have effect on 26 March 2022 unless further legislative action is taken to modify the expiry date of the law.
In addition, the regulations make amendments to provisions on the exercise of judicial functions by staff in each set of Rules to reflect the commencement of the Courts and Tribunals (Judiciary and Functions of Staff) Act 2018. However, the explanatory memorandum advises that these amendments do not widen the existing range of judicial functions that can be carried out by staff under judicial supervision.
SI.No.651/2020 is available from legislation.gov.uk
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