Tribunals in the United Kingdom

The tribunal system of the United Kingdom is part of the national system of administrative justice with tribunals classed as non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs).

Tribunals operate formal processes to adjudicate disputes in a similar way to courts of law, but have different rules and procedures; and only operate in a specialised area. In theory, their procedures may be better suited for particular types of disputes, cheaper to administer and require less-qualified officials. In the case of appeals, however, disputes will enter the conventional court system, possibly reaching the Court of Appeal and UK Supreme Court, so the judiciary still have oversight over the tribunals. Parties are sometimes represented by lawyers at tribunals.

Examples of tribunals include, Employment tribunals, Office of Fair Trading adjudicators, the Gender Recognition Panel, the Planning Inspectorate and the Company Names Tribunal.

Though it has grown up on an ad hoc basis since the beginning of the twentieth century, from 2007 reforms were put in place to build a unified system with recognised judicial authority, routes of appeal and regulatory supervision. The UK tribunal system is headed by the Senior President of Tribunals.

The Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 created a new unified structure for tribunals and recognises legally qualified members of tribunals as members of the judiciary of the United Kingdom who are guaranteed continued judicial independence.

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