Digest

Practice and procedure Digest

Practice Statement: Witness summonses and orders to produce documents (First-tier Tribunal (Tax Chamber)) , March 2016

This Practice Statement has been made by the Chamber President to give guidance to the tribunal and to tribunal users on the practice adopted in relation to the issue of witness summonses and orders to produce documents in the Tax Chamber.

Available at: http://tinyurl.com/hfnrrez

Draft case management pilot Practice Direction (Court of Protection), March 2016

The pilot Practice Direction is published in draft, in advance of a case management pilot commencing in the Court of Protection (CoP) in June 2016, to allow practitioners to prepare for a significant change in case management practice. The pilot scheme sets out three case management pathways for CoP proceedings:

• a property and affairs pathway;
• a health and welfare pathway; and
• a hybrid pathway for cases that have elements of both property and health.

Amendments may be made to the draft before the pilot commences to take account of observations made on it or for other reasons.

However, the pilot Practice Direction will place an obligation on applicants to provide improved analysis of the issues at the start of a case, allowing for more robust case management decisions to be taken at the outset and all issues to be identified at the earliest opportunity in proceedings. It will also seek to encourage early resolution of cases; to reduce the number and length of hearings required in contested cases; and to promote judicial continuity. The pilot is expected to run for up to 12 months.

A separate pilot, Practice Direction (Court of Protection 14E pilot in Practice Direction) dealing with reports commissioned under Mental Capacity Act 2005 s49, will also commence in June and is published now for information only.

• Available at: http://tinyurl.com/jlc58pj.pdf and at: http://tinyurl.com/z8nglov respectively.
• Observations or queries on the pilot should be sent to Joanna Furlong at the Ministry of Justice, e-mail : joanna.furlong@justice.gsi.gov.uk

Practice Statement: Authorisation of tribunal clerks to issue standard directions in appeals from the tribunal (Tax Chamber) (Upper Tribunal (Tax and Chancery Chamber)) , February 2016

By a Practice Statement issued on 10 March 2009, the Senior President of Tribunals has approved the carrying out by a member of staff of the Upper Tribunal (Tax and Chancery Chamber) appointed under Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 s 40(1) of any function of the Upper Tribunal under rule 5 (case management powers) of the Tribunal Procedure (Upper Tribunal) Rules 2008 SI No 2698, where that staff member has been authorised by the Chamber President to exercise that particular function.

• Available at: http://tinyurl.com/hanggut

Senior President of Tribunals’ Annual Report 2016, February 2016

Sir Ernest Ryder, senior president of tribunals, writes: ‘As a relatively new Senior President, I am privileged to have inherited a system that has a proud hallmark. We are specialist decisionmakers , using innovative and informal techniques, to provide effective and accessible justice for our users. As this report demonstrates, although we are far from complacent, other parts of the justice system will be able to learn from us when developing proposals for reform.’

• Available at: http://tinyurl.com/zozyvls

Chancery Guide 2016

The Chancery Guide: February 2016 provides important practical information about the conduct of litigation in the Chancery Division in the Rolls Building in London.

• Available at: http://tinyurl.com/gpav9f3

The Lord Chief Justice’s Report 2015

Lord Thomas, Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, has laid his 2015 annual report before parliament.

• Available at: http://tinyurl.com/gt6elfx