The final piece of this chunk of articles on the judiciary and independence focuses on the structure and make-up of the court system itself – how many courts there should be, what practical/structural things we would need to consider to improve access to justice and the different tiers of courts and tribunals.
Sometime early next year, the final set of posts on a Welsh Justice System will look at crime, punishment and rehabilitation.
At present, tribunals form part of the administrative court system in England and Wales.
Tribunals have usually been established as and when needed, but this means there’s no real coherent structure to them.
As recently as December 2021, the Law Commission made several recommendations to reform the devolved tribunal system in Wales. The main recommendation was the creation of a single first-tier tribunal for Wales divided into chambers, rather than the separate tribunals as they currently exist (listed earlier).
You would assume Wales would opt to keep a tribunal system.
They’re less formal (so less intimidating), they’re usually faster in making decisions (sometimes required to do so by law), are generally cheaper for everyone involved (some tribunals are eligible for legal aid) and reduce pressure on the courts. There are usually no big points of law that need to be debated, only the legality and suitability of decisions made by the government and public bodies.
One crucial advantage is that while tribunal decisions are legally-binding, tribunals aren’t bound to judicial precedent. This means they have the flexibility they need to review and change decisions if they need to.
Another recommendation from the Law Commission was the establishment of an Appeal Tribunal to hear….funnily enough….appeals from the Welsh Tribunals (in the absence of a High Court in Wales).
One other, more formal, option would be to establish a separate Administrative Court to deal with cases that would usually go to a tribunal. This could be separated into local administrative courts and a national administrative court (similar to the split between Tier 1 and Upper tribunals in England and Wales).
The number of tribunal judges in Wales would have to increase – probably to somewhere between 30-40.
The judges would act as a single pool and preside over trials they’re allocated, probably for a fixed-charge fee. Some tribunal judges could be salaried full time, particularly those presiding over tribunals with the highest caseloads. There’s the option of allowing district judges to double-job as tribunal judges as and when needed.
There would also need to be a similar increase in the number of Tribunal Panel Members who are experts in the subject area one of the tribunals focuses on – a planning tribunal would require qualified planners to act as experts, for example, and the mental health tribunal has medical members sitting on them.
