The wheels of administrative and civil justice grind slowly

It is now 50 years since the publication of the Franks report on Administrative Tribunals and Enquiries. The report was a seminal work establishing the principle that tribunals should be part of the judicial system rather than an executive part of government.

Following the report, the Council of Tribunals was established in December 1958. With the passing of the Tribunals, Court and Enforcement Act, the Council of Tribunals will be replaced by an Administrative Justice and Tribunal Council (AJTC) with a wider legislative remit and a full agenda to examine the impact of tribunal reform. The AJTC will be responsible for keeping administrative justice under review, considering ways of making the tribunal system accessible, fair and efficient, advising ministers in England, Scotland and Wales on the development of the tribunal system, referring proposals for change to ministers and bringing forward proposals for research into the system. As with its predecessor, the AJTC will not deal with tribunals in Northern Ireland except for those with a UK wide remit (mainly tax, VAT and other duties plus immigration and defence matters).

The AJTC is particularly important given that 23 tribunals were brought under the umbrella of the new Tribunals Service in April 2006 and four other tribunals, including the Asylum Support Tribunal and Care Standards Tribunal, have joined since then. The groundwork for the new united tribunal service has been put in place. The Tribunal, Courts and Enforcement Act will add to the building blocks by creating a generic first tier and upper tribunal appeals system (with the notable exception of the Employment Appeal Tribunal and Asylum and Immigration Tribunal). The new arrangements will include provision for the Upper Tribunal to hear judicial review cases in certain circumstances and for High Court judges to move into the Upper Tribunal on occasions. Of particular interest to voluntary sector advisers, the Tribunals Service is about to pilot a proportionate dispute resolution procedure for DLA and Attendance Allowance with an experienced chairperson making an early assessment of case papers to identify opportunities for early resolution of disputes. A procedure to bring the parties together in employment discrimination cases is already underway. In effect, there are now major changes to the tribunal system with clear mechanisms for independent scrutiny.

How do we shape up in Northern Ireland? The Secretary of State announced in March 2006 the creation of a united tribunal system through the Northern Ireland Court Service. Since then, Parking, Adjudication and Valuation tribunals have been established under the Court Service. Otherwise, there is precious little to show by way of change. There has never been any significant research into the work of tribunals; no publicly available annual reports, strategic or business plans are produced by individual tribunals; and there is no statutory independent scrutiny of the work of tribunals. The transfer of existing tribunals has not commenced. Addressing the needs of people appealing decisions, including their need for information, advice and representation, is not being examined.

The slow pace of reform will shortly mean that the rights of individuals appealing will be considerably reduced compared to counterparts in Britain and the gap in accountability, consultation and information will grow further. Moreover, there is no equivalent to the Civil Justice Council in spite of the Civil Justice Review in Northern Ireland having recommended a committee for Northern Ireland in its reports in 1998 and 2000. As a result, there is a similar gap in research and oversight between Northern Ireland and elsewhere.

The time has long passed to close these gaps and offer people who use tribunals and the civil justice system equivalent levels of openness, scrutiny and impetus for new thinking within the civil and administrative justice systems.

Les Allamby, Director, Law Centre (NI)