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Have your sayWe welcome news and views on any subject related to administrative justice and tribunals. Pass it on!Please forward Adjust to people who might find it interesting. To have your name added to our list of recipients, click here International 'Right to Know' Day28 September 2006 was the fourth International Right to Know Day, which was established to mark the founding on 28 September 2002 of the global Freedom of Information Advocates Network. The aim of Right to Know Day is to raise awareness of every individual's right of access to government-held information: the right to know how elected officials are exercising power and how the tax-payers' money is being spent. International ConferenceThe Council of Canadian Administrative Tribunals will be holding its 4th International Conference from May 6–9 in 2007 in Vancouver. Seminar Series: Administrative JusticeThe next Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) seminar on administrative justice is on Tuesday 12 December at the University of Liverpool. The aims of the seminars are to review the current state of theoretical work on administrative justice; consider recent developments in public administration in the UK; assess the current state of administrative justice in the UK and consider how administrative justice might be enhanced. Anyone who wishes to attend should contact Richard Whitecross: JSB Training Dates27-28 November 2006 16 January 2007 19-21 March 2007 8-10 October 2007 15-17 November 2007 26-27 November 2007 For further details see the JSB's Tribunals' Training Prospectus |
Mandatory Training for Exclusion Panels"This move is to be warmly welcomed as it will undoubtedly lead to a significant improvement in standards of decision making in exclusion appeals and in the perceived professionalism of exclusion appeal panels".
– Lord Newton Chairman of the Council on Tribunals Following representations from the Council, DfES Ministers have agreed that training should be mandatory for all members and clerks of school exclusion appeal panels. The new regulations effecting this change – The Education (Pupil Exclusions and Appeals) (Miscellaneous Amendments) (England) Regulations 2006 came into operation on 6 September 2006. The effect of the new provisions is that no person can serve as a clerk or sit as a member of a school exclusion panel unless they satisfy a prescribed training requirement, which includes training in exclusions law, the role of appeal panels and in human rights and diversity legislation.
Principles of Good AdministrationAnn Abraham, the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, has launched a consultation on a draft 'Six Principles of Good Administration'. The principles were developed to ensure the Ombudsman's work was understood by both complainants and the public bodies. "The Principles are statements of what I believe bodies within my jurisdiction should be doing to deliver a good service to the public. They provide a reference for good practice based on our experience of handling large numbers of complaints."
– Ann Abraham In summary, the six principles are:
The consultation lasts for 12 weeks. Consultation: Return to Practice by Former Salaried JudgesThe DCA has launched a consultation paper 'Return to Practice by Former Salaried Judges', seeking views on proposals to allow former salaried judges to return to practice on ceasing to hold judicial office, subject to certain conditions and safeguards. In principle the Lord Chancellor has decided that those who have served at any level of the judiciary should be permitted to return to practice after leaving the Bench. No distinction should be drawn between different levels of the judicial hierarchy, since there will be no risk to the administration of justice or the independence of the judiciary if the right conditions and safeguards are in place. The consultation deadline is 8 December 2006. Higher pay for long service ruled illegal
The European Court of Justice has ruled that employers cannot lawfully pay some workers much higher salaries than others solely on the grounds of long service. The ruling was based on an appeal by Bernadette Cadman, a principal inspector at the Health and Safety Executive, who brought a case against her employer in 2001. Cadman worked for HSE for 13 years, but discovered male colleagues were being paid in the order of £5,000 to £7,000 more per year. Mrs Cadman claimed that the use of length of service as a determinant of pay is indirectly discriminatory and requires objective justification under the equal pay legislation. She successfully brought a case to an Employment Tribunal in 2002, which found that women were adversely affected by pay systems based on length of service. But an Employment Appeal Tribunal in July 2003, citing an earlier European Court of Justice decision, ruled that HSE was not required to produce specific justification. The appeal was then taken to the European Court of Justice and the subsequent ruling will have an impact on public sector employees, where wide differentials based on length of service are more common than in the private sector.
Remedies against Public Bodies: A Scoping Paper
The Law Commission is undertaking a project to review the law in relation to remedies against public bodies and has published a scoping paper attempting to define this project. The scoping paper concludes that the substantive project should consider the broad question "When and how should the individual be able to obtain redress against a public body that has acted wrongfully?" The paper is a report rather than a consultation document, however the Law Commission are interested in receiving any initial thoughts. They will aim to publish a consultation paper setting out provisional proposals for reform before the end of 2007. Agricultural tenancies
New legislation that will modernise agricultural tenancies has come into effect. Landlords and tenants will have more freedom to reach agreements on agricultural tenancy matters to suit their own needs. One of the changes introduced will remove the need for unnecessary applications to the Agricultural Land Tribunal where a landlord agrees on the successor to the tenancy. The changes are a result of the work of the Tenancy Reform Industry Group. Scrutiny Review in ScotlandAn independent review of regulation, audit, inspection and complaints handling of public services in Scotland is under way. The review, chaired by Professor Lorne Crerar, will make recommendations to Ministers in June 2007. The review is part of a wide range of public service reform activity that is under way and its main aim is to propose a framework for the future external scrutiny of public services, which is focused on the needs of the people who use them and ensures that public money is used as efficiently and effectively as possible. All stages of the review will be informed by discussions with stakeholders and evidence will be available on the website. Constitutional Affairs CommitteeDraft Bill on Coroners Reform: Committee ReformThe Commons Constitutional Affairs Committee has reported on the Government's recently published draft Bill on Coroners Reform. The report, entitled 'Reform of the Coroners' System and Death Certification' says the Government risks 'wasting a golden opportunity' to reform the system of death certification and investigation in England and Wales. Carter InquiryThe Constitutional Affairs Committee has launched an inquiry into the implementation of the Carter Review. The review, by Lord Carter of Coles considered the means for delivering the Government's vision, set out in A Fairer Deal for Legal Aid, for procuring publicly funded legal services, in particular criminal defence services. The proposals for different means of procurement have proved controversial. Concerns surround the possible adverse effect on the provision of legal services from smaller firms and rural and ethnic minority practitioners. It is also possible that the quality of provision could suffer since lawyers would be encouraged to spend less time on cases if they were paid fixed fees. The Committee will consider the impact on the justice system of the proposed changes; assess whether the proposed changes would have a disproportionate effect on providers; and examine how proposals to pay lawyers fixed fees would impact on provision. Public Administration Committee: Pensions ReportThe Public Administration Committee has produced a report in response to the March 2006 Parliamentary Ombudsman report 'Trusting in the pensions promise: government bodies and the security of final salary occupational pensions'. The original Ombudsman's report investigated complaints from members and trustees of certain final salary occupational pension schemes which have wound up with insufficient funds to enable the schemes to meet the 'pensions promise' to all their members. The Ombudsman found that Government maladministration in producing misleading information meant that scheme members were led to believe their pensions were safe and recommended that the Government should consider whether it should make arrangements for the restoration of full pensions to those affected subsequently. Both the finding and recommendation were rejected by the DWP (Department for Work and Pensions) and as a consequence the Public Administration Committee investigated further. The Public Administration Committee has agreed with the Ombudsman that maladministration has occurred and has also recommended compensation. |
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Transport Committee report on Parking Policy and Enforcement: Government response publishedThe Government has published its response to the Report of the House of Commons Transport Committee on Parking Policy and Enforcement, (June 2006), mentioned in the August issue of Adjust.
'Consumer Voice' plansA new organisation 'Consumer Voice' has been proposed by the Consumer Minister Ian McCartney. Consumer Voice would pull together the National Consumer Council, Energywatch and Postwatch into a single body and provide people with a single point of contact for dealing with consumer issues. The proposals also include plans to extend redress schemes to the remaining energy complaints not covered by the Energy Supply Ombudsman and to award compensation to consumers where warranted. This proposal marks the Government response to its consultation on consumer representation and redress undertaken in early 2006, which sought views on proposals to strengthen and streamline consumer advocacy. Patent Office Mediation Service wins award
The Patent Office has won the Public Sector Award in this year's annual CEDR Excellence in Alternative Dispute Resolution Awards, for the introduction of a new mediation service to help companies and individuals involved in intellectual property disputes. The Patent Office mediation service was launched in April 2006 and covers all types of Intellectual Property (IP) rights - including the unregistered copyright and design rights, as well as the registered rights like patents, trademarks and registered designs. CEDR is the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution and is a non-profit organisation aimed at encouraging and developing cost effective dispute prevention and dispute resolution in commercial and public sector disputes and in civil litigation. Two New Tribunals for the Tribunals ServiceIn early 2007 two new Tribunals will be implemented within the Tribunals Development Group. Firstly the Gambling Appeals Tribunal will commence in January 2007 and will hear appeals against decisions of the Gambling Commission under the Gambling Act 2005. The Gambling Act establishes a new regime for the regulation of commercial gambling in Great Britain and within section 20 of the Act establishes a new independent regulator, the Gambling Commission, who will issue operating licences (for individuals and companies), personal functional licences and personal management licences. Holders of, or applicants for, these licences have a right of appeal to the Tribunal in respect of decisions of the Commission which relate to their licences or licence applications. The Claims Management Services Tribunal will commence in February 2007 and will provide an independent body that will hear appeals arising from decisions of the Regulator. The tribunal was established by the Compensation Act 2006 which came into force in July. Any person whose authorisation is affected by the Regulator's decision may refer the matter to the Tribunal. The Tribunal may take any decision the Regulator could have taken, may impose or remove conditions, may suspend or cancel a person's authorisation or may remit a matter to the Regulator. It cannot award costs. Section 12(4) of the Compensation Act 2006 empowers the Lord Chancellor to make rules in respect of the conduct of all proceedings before the Tribunal. As a result the Tribunals Service is seeking views on a Claims Management Services Tribunal draft rules 2007 consultation paper by 20 November 2006. Freedom of Information – One Year On:
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