Ministers consult on tribunal eligibility criteria

Proposed criteria for appointment as legal and other members of the First-tier and Upper Tribunals in Scotland have been put out to consultation by Scottish ministers.

Set to come into force on 1 January 2016, draft regulations under the Tribunals (Scotland) Act 2014 would apply to the new, simplified structure for tribunals dealing with devolved matters in Scotland. In due course all of the devolved tribunal jurisdictions will transfer in to the Scottish Tribunals. In the first phase, specified housing and tax cases will transfer during 2016 and 2017.

For legal members of the First-tier Tribunals, the draft regulations prescribe generic eligibility criteria which will be applicable across the tribunals. These include that an applicant must be practising and have practised for a period of not less than five years as a solicitor, advocate or barrister in Scotland, England, Wales or Northern Ireland. A person will also be eligible on the basis of previous practice for not less than five years if they have subsequently engaged in exercising judicial functions in any court or tribunal, or practice or employment as a lawyer of any kind. Upper Tribunal legal membership would require a similar qualification over a seven year period.

Appointment as a chamber president of the First-tier Tribunal, which is provided for separately, would however require legal membership of the Upper Tribunal or eligibility for appointment as such.

It is also envisaged that a particular recruitment exercise will specify the chamber in respect of which the recruitment is being run and the particular legal experience or aptitude considered desirable.

The consultation invites views on whether the regulations should go further by broadening the eligibility criteria – or, conversely, whether they go too far, such as by opening the pool to lawyers not qualified in Scots law when it is devolved subject matter that is under consideration.

Qualifications of ordinary members of First-tier Tribunals relating to housing, surveying and tax experience are also set out.

Click here to view the consultation. The deadline for responses is 9 October 2015.