Consultation on proposal to amend the Tribunal Procedure (First-Tier Tribunal) (Health, Education and Social Care Chamber) Rules 2008

Consultation on proposal to amend the Tribunal Procedure (First-Tier Tribunal) (Health, Education and Social Care Chamber) Rules 2008

The Tribunal Procedure Committee (TPC) is conducting a consultation exercise to seek views on proposed amendments to the Health, Education and Social Care Rules.

The TPC is proposing to amend rule 34 which re-enacts rule 11 of the Mental Health Review Tribunal Rules 1983. This requires that there must be a medical examination of the patient by the medically-qualified member of the tribunal before the case is heard.

The proposal is that the requirement for a medical examination should be relaxed and made discretionary. However, it is proposed that there should normally be medical examinations in cases where a patient is detained for assessment under section 2 of the Mental Health Act 1983 and that there should be a duty placed on hospitals to make medical records available to the First-tier Tribunal in all cases.

The consultation paper details the proposed changes and the rationale. The paper and a response questionnaire (should you wish to use it) can be found on the TPC website at:
http://www.justice.gov.uk/about/tribunal-procedure-committee/ts-committee-open-consultations

The purpose of the TPC is to make rules governing the practice and procedure in the First–tier Tribunal and Upper Tribunal created by the Tribunals Courts and Enforcement Act 2007. If you are from UK you might be interested in playing in playing bingo while you are the Awards. Have a look at this foxy bingo or gala bingo websites to play bingo games online for free.
The Committee is guided by the following principles:
 to make the rules as simple and streamlined as possible;
 to avoid unnecessarily technical language;
 to enable tribunals to continue to operate tried and tested procedures which have been shown to work well; and
 to adopt common rules across tribunals wherever possible, so that rules specific to a chamber or a tribunal are permitted only where there is a clear and demonstrated need for them.

With these principles in mind, we welcome written feedback on the proposed amendments. Please respond by email to tpcsecretariat@justice.gsi.gov.uk, by letter to the above address, or by completing the questionnaire on the website.

The consultation closes on Tuesday 10th September 2013. Whilst the TPC will consider all responses received by the closing date, it would greatly assist the Committee to have responses before then if possible.

We look forward to receiving your comments and hearing your views on the draft rules.

Yours faithfully,

Julie McCallen
Secretary, Tribunal Procedure Committee