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Question: 1 This essay will seek to explain the tribunal system utilised in England and Wales. Explanation of the characteristics and role of tribunals will be presented, via the inclusion of examples. The essay will then critically examine the tribunal system. A tribunal is a specialised court which hears cases in a particular area of law. For example there are separate tribunals that hear appeals in Social Security, employment, mental health, property or immigration law in England and Wales. Tribunal system is distinct from the courts as it has developed speciality in certain and diversified areas of law by way of dispute resolution. The courts-of-first-instance, the magistrate and county courts deal with criminal and civil cases. According to Cownie, Brandnie and Burton (2013), over one million cases per year are dealt with by tribunals and approximately 7000 tribunal personnel (including both lay and legally qualified members) participate into this particular process of the administration of justice. In the tribunal system, there are a number of common characteristics which reflect the advantages and disadvantages of this system. For example one advantage that tribunals offer is a degree of informality and lack of complexity; the Social Security and Mental Health tribunals are less formal in their structures. However, in contrast, Special Property tribunals are more formal than the courts and more often, parties appearing before them have to be represented by the lawyers. Involvement of laypersons in the decision-making process; Members of the tribunal panel may include such persons who lack expertise or have less knowledge of the particular area of law e.g. in cases of incapacity and disability benefits, a medical doctor can be a member of the tribunal panel. Speciality in a particular area of law; a decision on the eligibility of a state benefit can only be challenged in a Social Security and Child Support Tribunal, a decision of the Home Office in an immigration issue can only be challenged in an immigration tribunal which characteristic, therefore, highlights the specialisation of the tribunal system. Tribunals in England and Wales are broadly classified into two categories: the Administrative Tribunals and the Domestic Tribunals. Administrative Tribunals are those which are run under the state and provide redress to the aggrieved persons against the decisions of the government departments whereas the domestic tribunals are those which are run under the non-state bodies such as those in the legal or medical professions. An example of a domestic tribunal which is run in the 1

legal profession is the Joint Tribunal Service for Barristers and Solicitors. This domestic tribunal is administered by the Law Society and the Bar Council to resolve disputes between barristers and solicitors on payment of fees. While shedding light on the history of administrative tribunals, it is important to discuss the Special Commissioner of Income Tax which is an administrative tribunal and was founded as early as the first decade of the Nineteenth century during the war against France as a temporary measure to resolve disputes in the collection of Income Tax. Upon realising that tax was an effective revenue collection source; this was further strengthened and adopted as a permanent measure. Since 2009, Special Commissioner of Income Tax has been made part of the Tax Chamber of First Tier Tribunal to adjudicate claims by unhappy claimants on the amount of tax levied. There is a further question; how does the number of administrative tribunals increase? The number of administrative tribunals expands in line with the expansion in the legislation by the parliament giving more rights to the citizens. The National Security Act, 1911, created for the first time the Social Security Benefits and the disputes so emerging were resolved by the Committee of Referees of which the Social Security and Child Support Tribunal is the gradually evolved. Another example is the Environmental Tribunal which was created in pursuance of the Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Act, 2008. As mentioned earlier, composition of a tribunal panel differs from courts as laypersons are included. “Matters of fact” are as important as ”matters of law” for a fair adjudication of a dispute and in court “matters of fact” are determined by the jury whereas in a tribunal, this task is performed by the laypersons sitting in the tribunal panel. To sum up, the tribunals are as important as the courts. They are distinguished from the courts due to their significant role in the specified areas of law. They deal with a big chunk of cases every year and provide employment to a large number of legally qualified members and other staff from the society. More often formation of tribunals is less formal and less complex than the courts. Determination of the matters of fact in tribunals is made by laypersons who share their findings as members of a tribunal panel. Distinction of tribunals lies in their speciality for particular areas of law. Word Count: 750 words

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Question: 2 Introduction: It is a problem-solving question, based on a question from the Civil Law and relates to its category of civil liability in Tort. An attempt has been made to resolve the legal issue by applying the relevant law on the facts of the case. The method applied is that of IRAC i.e. issue, relevant law, application and conclusion. LEGAL ISSUE: The defendant acted negligently, thereby causing damage to the claimant’s property and consequently has committed a blameworthy civil wrong.

RELEVANT LAW: A negligence tort is when someone's unsafe action showed a disregard for the law and the welfare of another person, such as disobeying a traffic control device. Strict liability tort is when a person is held liable for something without regard to a degree of negligence. Fault is a negligent or intentional failure to act reasonably or according to law or duty. It is an improper act or omission causing injury to another or damage to another’s property and arising from ignorance, carelessness, or negligence. It is a civil wrong. Someone who commits a civil wrong is held civilly liable. A conduct is a civil wrong if the damage caused is to a private individual. A person must be held responsible for his/her conduct before they can be held liable for a civil wrong. Negligence is not a subjective state of mind but a conduct that falls below the objective standard of conduct required by law (Reference: Open University notes – Unit-14 Pages.14 & 22) William cited in Allen and Cooper (2013), “while a crime leads to criminal proceedings, a civil wrong leads to civil proceedings.”

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A criminal trial is brought by the Crown Prosecution Service whilst a civil trial is brought by the victim in her/ his own capacity as a private individual and thus is victim-focused. A criminal trial is aimed at convicting and punishing the defendant which may take the form such as imprisonment or fine whilst a civil trial is aimed at compensating the claimant for the damage done by the defendant and may take the form of an award of damages to the victim or an injunction ordering the defendant to desist from causing damage to the claimant.

APPLICATION: The defendant was in violation of the traffic rules (a) by using mobile phone while driving at the time of the incident and (b) he was not having a proper distance from the front running car i.e. the complainant’s car. His conduct was negligent and careless. CONCLUSION: The defendant has failed to fulfil his civil responsibility as a driver to the complaint. He has committed a civil wrong which falls under the strict liability tort. He is blameworthy for committing a civil wrong under the law of tort. The complainant can bring civil proceedings against the defendant and can claim compensation for the damage caused to her car as a private individual. Additionally, driving restrictions can be imposed on the defendant. Word Count: 350 words Question: 3 Whilst undertaking research towards completing this TMA I realised that I would often have to return to documents that I had already read to clarify information, this could be improved by coding the information. To support undertaking this with ease, I could either code via page numbers/references or utilise colour coding. Furthermore, planning the structure of my essay in advance with clear “sub-headings” would facilitate improved structure and clarity. Therefore, I will decide on how to code information by practicing this technique using a fictitious/previous assignment to develop this skill. Further, I will prepare an essay structure plan in advance of starting any future essays, offering me effectively a stepwise plan towards achieving my goal. By undertaking this I hope to improve my efficiency and accuracy in extracting information from literature and to also improve my essay writing skills. 1

Word Count: 141 words Whole Count 1241 words References University material The Open University (2016) Unit 11: Tribunals: [Online].Available at https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=851780 (Accessed 20, March, 2017) The Open University (2016) Unit 12: The judiciary: [Online].Available at https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=851782 (Accessed 22, March, 2017) The Open University (2016) Unit 13: Judicial reasoning and politics: [Online].Available at https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=851784 (Accessed 22, March, 2017) The Open University (2016) Unit 14: Concepts in criminal and civil liability: [Online].Available at https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=851789 (Accessed 22, March, 2017)

Articles Groom, B. (2014) ‘Huge fall in employment tribunal claims prompts fears over fees’Financial Times, 13 March [Online]. Available at http://www.ft.com.libezproxy.open.ac.uk/cms/s/0/d3a3a048-aab5-11e3-be0100144feab7de.html#axzz3FY6ZfZEl (Accessed 8 March 2017).

Books Cownie, F., Bradney, A. and Burton, M. (2013) English Legal System in Context, Oxford, Oxford University Press. Milton, J. (1667) Paradise Lost, Ricks, C. (ed.), London, Penguin (this edition 1989). Partington, M. (2013) Introduction to the English Legal System, Oxford, Oxford University Press. Martin J. (2013) The English Legal System, 7th edn, London, Hodder Education.

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Barnett, H. (2013) Constitutional and Administrative Law,10th edn, Abingdon, Routledge. Slapper, G. and Kelly, D. (2013) The English Legal System: 2013–2014 , 14th edn, Abingdon, Routledge. Cane, P. (2006) Atiyah’s Accidents, Compensation and the Law, 7th edn, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. Deakin, S., Johnston, A. and Markesinis, B. (2013) Markesinis and Deakin’s Tort Law, 7th edn, Oxford, Clarendon Press. Murphy, J. and Witting, C. (2012) Street on Torts, 13th edn, Oxford, Oxford University Press. Cases AA (Nigeria) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2010] EWCA Civ 773, [2011] 1 WLR 564 Pickering v Liverpool Daily Post and Echo Newspapers Plc [1991] 2 AC 370 Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] AC 562 Bolton v Stone [1951] AC 850 Legislation Employment Rights Act 1996 c 18 Employment Tribunals Act 1996 c 17 Tribunals, Court and Enforcement Act 2007 c 15 The Employment Tribunals and the Employment Appeal Tribunal Fees Order 2013 (SI 2013/1893) Courts and Legal Services Act 1990 c 41 Equality Act 2010 c 15 Other sources Adler, M. (2008) The Potential and Limits of Self-Representation at Tribunals: Full Research Report, ESRC End of Award Report, RES-000-23-0853. Adminstrative Justice & Tribunals Council (2011) Securing Fairness and Redress: Administrative Justice at Risk? [Online]. Available at http://ajtc.justice.gov.uk/docs/AJTC_at_risk_(10.11)_web.pdf (Accessed 7 March 2017). Bar Standards Board (2009) Code of Conduct of the Bar of England and Wales, 8th edn, London, Bar Standards Board [Online]. Available at https://www.barstandardsboard.org.uk/regulatory-requirements/the-old-code-ofconduct (Accessed 8 March 2017).

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Review of Tribunals (2000) LCD Press Notice 158/00, 18 May [Online]. Available at http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http:/www.tribunals-review.org.uk/pn1805-00.htm (Accessed 7 March 2017).

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