Upper Tribunal and housing tribunal case rules out in draft

Two sets of draft rules relating to Scottish tribunals have been put out to consultation.

One contains draft regulations with a time limit for seeking permission to appeal to the Upper Tribunal, and proposed procedure rules for the tribunal; the other concerns the transfer of the work of the private rented housing panel and homeowner housing panel to the Scottish Tribunals, and the composition of Scottish Tribunals when hearing housing and property cases.

For the Upper Tribunal, which will hear appeals from First-tier Tribunals and may also be given some categories of judicial review cases, a 30 day time limit is proposed for seeking permission to appeal a decision to the tribunal, and also from the tribunal to the Court of Session. The timescale is intended to strike a balance between giving parties adequate time to consider whether to appeal, and certainty for parties. The time limit could be extended for good reason. 

Its procedure rules set out the process for giving notice of the grounds of appeal, and also contain the "unusual and potentially severe power" to dismiss all or part of the proceedings if a party fails to comply with an order containing a warning of dismissal on failure to comply. "Is it appropriate in a tribunal context where lay representatives may be being used?", the consultation asks.

Separate draft regulations provide for offences in proceedings before the Upper Tribunal.

The proposed rules on hearing housing and property cases provide for a First-tier Tribunal composed of a legal member alone, a legal member with one ordinary member or a legal member with two ordinary members. Appeals would be heard by a full time sheriff in the Upper Tribunal. The draft regulations also proposes that the President of the Scottish Tribunals has the right to choose the Chamber President of the Housing and Property Chamber to sit in the Upper Tribunal should they consider that there is a particular expertise required to hear a case.

Click here for the Upper Tribunal consultation, and here for the housing and property cases consultation. Both run until 15 December 2015.