The Upper Tribunal is part of the administrative justice system of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

. It was created in 2008 as part of a programme, set out in the

Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 The Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It provides for several diverse matters relating to the law, some of them being significant changes to the structure of the courts and fundamental ...

, to rationalise the

tribunal A tribunal, generally, is any person or institution with authority to judge, adjudicate on, or determine claims or disputes—whether or not it is called a tribunal in its title. For example, an advocate who appears before a court with a single ...

system, and to provide a common means of handling appeals against the decisions of lower tribunals. It is administered by

His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) is an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice. It was created on 1 April 2011 (as Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service) by the merger of Her Majesty's Courts Service and the Tribunal ...

. The Upper Tribunal is a superior

court of record A court of record is a trial court or appellate court in which a record of the proceedings is captured and preserved, for the possibility of appeal. A court clerk or a court reporter takes down a record of oral proceedings. That written record ...

, giving it equivalent status to the High Court and meaning that it can both set

precedent A precedent is a principle or rule established in a previous legal case that is either binding on or persuasive for a court or other tribunal when deciding subsequent cases with similar issues or facts. Common-law legal systems place great v ...

s and can enforce its decisions (and those of the

First-tier Tribunal The First-tier Tribunal is part of the courts and tribunals service of the United Kingdom. It was created in 2008 as part of a programme, enacted in the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007, to rationalise the tribunal system, and has since t ...

) without the need to ask the High Court or the

Court of Session The Court of Session is the supreme civil court of Scotland and constitutes part of the College of Justice; the supreme criminal court of Scotland is the High Court of Justiciary. The Court of Session sits in Parliament House in Edinburg ...

to intervene. It is also the first (and only) tribunal to have the power of

judicial review Judicial review is a process under which executive, legislative and administrative actions are subject to review by the judiciary. A court with authority for judicial review may invalidate laws, acts and governmental actions that are incomp ...

Chambers and jurisdiction

The tribunal currently consists of four chambers, structured around subject areas (although the Administrative Appeals Chamber has a broad remit). Different jurisdictions have been transferred into the tribunal in a programme which began in 2008 and is continuing.

Administrative Appeals Chamber

The Administrative Appeals Chamber hears appeals against decisions of the General Regulatory Chamber (except in Charity cases), the Health, Education and Social Care Chamber, the Social Entitlement Chamber, and the War Pensions and Armed Forces Compensation Chamber of the

, and applications for

of First-tier Tribunal decisions in Criminal Injuries Compensation cases. The chamber may also deal with judicial review cases transferred to the Upper Tribunal from the High Court. The chamber also hears appeals about decisions of the

Disclosure and Barring Service The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) is a non-departmental public body of the Home Office of the United Kingdom. The DBS enables organisations in the public, private and voluntary sectors to make safer recruitment decisions by identifyin ...

(DBS) to prevent someone from working with children or vulnerable adults, and decisions of the traffic commissioners concerning operators of heavy goods vehicles and public service vehicles, and premises used as operating centres.

Tax and Chancery Chamber

The Tax and Chancery Chamber hears appeals against decisions of the

in tax or charity cases, and appeals against decision notices issued by the

Financial Conduct Authority The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is a financial regulatory body in the United Kingdom, but operates independently of the UK Government, and is financed by charging fees to members of the financial services industry. The FCA regulates financ ...

(for example, regarding authorisation and permission, penalties for market abuse, or disciplinary matters) and the Pensions Regulator. The chamber may also hear applications for

of some decisions made by

HM Revenue and Customs HM Revenue and Customs (His Majesty's Revenue and Customs, or HMRC) is a non-ministerial government department, non-ministerial Departments of the United Kingdom Government, department of the His Majesty's Government, UK Government responsible fo ...

, the Pensions Regulator, the

Charity Commission , type = Non-ministerial government department , seal = , seal_caption = , logo = Charity Commission for England and Wales logo.svg , logo_caption = , formed = , preceding1 = , ...

, the

Financial Services Authority The Financial Services Authority (FSA) was a quasi-judicial body accountable for the regulation of the financial services industry in the United Kingdom between 2001 and 2013. It was founded as the Securities and Investments Board (SIB) in 19 ...

and the

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and still one of the bankers for the Government o ...

, decisions relation to banking regulations and to the assessment of compensation or consideration under the

Banking (Special Provisions) Act 2008 The Banking (Special Provisions) Act 2008 (c 2) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that entered into force on the 21 February 2008 in order to enable the UK government to nationalise high-street banks under emergency circumstances ...

, and certain cases relating to the proceeds of crime.

Lands Chamber

The Lands Chamber decides disputes concerning land, including the purchase of land blighted by the proposals of a public authority, compensation for land compulsorily purchased and or the value of which has been affected by public works (such noise from an

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfa ...

), and compensation for

coal mining Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

subsidence, coast protection works,

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contr ...

s, and

land drainage Drainage is the natural or artificial removal of a surface's water and sub-surface water from an area with excess of water. The internal drainage of most agricultural soils is good enough to prevent severe waterlogging (anaerobic conditio ...

works. The chamber also hears appeals from decisions of

in which the value of land is disputed, from valuation tribunals concerning the value of land for non-domestic rates purposes, from

leasehold valuation tribunal A leasehold valuation tribunal (LVT) was a statutory tribunal in England which determined various types of landlord and tenant dispute involving residential property in the private sector. An LVT consisted of a panel of three; one with a backgroun ...

s and

residential property tribunal A residential area is a land used in which housing predominates, as opposed to industrial and commercial areas. Housing may vary significantly between, and through, residential areas. These include single-family housing, multi-family resi ...

s. Finally, the chamber also hears applications to discharge or modify restrictions on the use of land (

restrictive covenant A covenant, in its most general sense and historical sense, is a solemn promise to engage in or refrain from a specified action. Under historical English common law, a covenant was distinguished from an ordinary contract by the presence of a s ...

s) and applications for notices relating to the

right to light Right to light is a form of easement in English law that gives a long-standing owner of a building with windows a right to maintain an adequate level of illumination. The right was traditionally known as the doctrine of "ancient lights". It is ...

Immigration and Asylum Chamber

This chamber hears appeals against decisions made by the

in matters of immigration, asylum and nationality.

Judiciary

The judiciary of the Upper Tribunal comprises judges and other members. Senior legally qualified members of former tribunals (now abolished and transferred into the First-tier and Upper Tribunals) became judges of the Upper Tribunal when their jurisdiction was transferred, whilst some lay members (generally experts in the subject matter of the former tribunal) became other members. New judges and members are appointed by the

Judicial Appointments Commission The Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) is an independent commission that selects candidates for judicial office in courts and tribunals in England and Wales and for some tribunals whose jurisdiction extends to Scotland or Northern Ireland. Sy ...

. In addition, the following may also sit as judges of the Upper Tribunal: * Chamber President or a Deputy Chamber President of the

* Court of Appeal judges *

judges * High Court judges * circuit judges and

sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...

s * district judges and district judges (magistrates' courts) The

Senior President of Tribunals The Senior President of Tribunals is a senior judge in the United Kingdom who presides over the UK tribunal system. The Senior President is appointed by the monarch of the United Kingdom on the advice of the Lord Chancellor following the recommen ...

is currently

Keith Lindblom Sir Keith John Lindblom, PC (born 20 September 1956), styled The Rt Hon Lord Justice Lindblom, is a King's Counsel and current Lord Justice of Appeal in the Court of Appeal. Career He was educated at Whitgift School and St John's College, Oxfor ...

, who is the fourth to hold this role. Each chamber of the Upper Tribunal is headed by a chamber president. In most cases, decisions are made by a judge (or in the case of the Lands Chamber, a member) sitting alone, although in cases involving complex issues of law or expertise, a larger bench consisting of more than one judge, or a judge and one or more members, may hear the case.

Appeals

Appeals against decisions of the Upper Tribunal can be made to the

Court of Appeal A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much ...

(in England and Wales), or the

(in Northern Ireland) or the

(in Scotland).

External links

Upper Tribunal
Tribunals Service

References

{{Reflist Law of the United Kingdom United Kingdom administrative law United Kingdom tribunals 2008 establishments in the United Kingdom Courts and tribunals established in 2008