Medical Reports

I have just been turned down for permission to Appeal to the Upper Tribunal by the same Tribunal Judge of the First Tier Tribunal that refused my DLA appeal . Should a different judge have looked at the application for leave to appeal ?

Lukeandrew wrote: I have just been turned down for permission to Appeal to the Upper Tribunal by the same Tribunal Judge of the First Tier Tribunal that refused my DLA appeal . Should a different judge have looked at the application for leave to appeal ?

Just to clarify, the Tribunal Judge of your First-tier Tribunal can grant you permission to apply to the Upper Tribunal ( formerly called Social Security Commissioners) if they wish. For reasons unknown, they often refuse permission, but as Gordon has advised you can appeal directly to the Upper Tribunal.

Good luck

Jim
retired DLA Tribunal Member

I can appeal to the Upper Tribunal but that means as I understand matters that the DWP will not be seeing my grounds for appeal unless the Upper Tribunal grants leave to appeal

Hi. Jim Do you know if I can ask for reasons from the FTT Judge as to why he has refused me permission for leave to appeal his decision?

Lukeandrew wrote: Hi. Jim Do you know if I can ask for reasons from the FTT Judge as to why he has refused me permission for leave to appeal his decision?

Hi Luke,

Sorry for the delay in replying to your post before the forum was locked. However, I had a gliche with my laptop which resulted in me replying late about your query but for reasons unknown it never appeared.

I think the best thing I can do is is to explain how things worked under the old system and at the same time, do my best to explain the new system it replaced.

Prior to the Ministry of Justice taking over all Tribunals, including Social Security & DLA Tribunals last year, DLA & other Social Security Tribunals were part of the now defunct Tribunals Service.

At that time, the legal member on a First-tier Tribunal was known as a Tribunal Chairman, when now they are called Tribunal Judges. If you had an appeal heard by a FtT and it failed, you could request the Tribunal Chair for permission to appeal to the Social Security Commissioners, who now have the title of "Upper Tribunal".

Now, if your FtT is turned down, then you apply to the Tribunal Judge for permission to appeal your claim to the Upper Tribunal. The Tribunal Judge ( formerly the Tribunal Chairman) may or may not grant your request. I'm not sure why they have this power, but from my experience on DLA Tribunals, it seemed no more than an 'ego trip', because you have a legal right to apply to a UT directly, although it may not always be granted, if the FtT made no error of law in their decision. This would be explained to you when the UT Judge gave his/her reasons.

The UT will have all your case bundle from the FtT, but a Upper Tribunal can only hear your case, if they feel that your FtT have made an 'error of law' and/or the rules of natural justice, i.e. 'fair play at work' have been breached. The DWP will also submit a report to the UT, stating whether or not they feel the FtT has erred in law, and if so they have a duty to bring this to the UT's attention. Quite often the DWP will agree that the FtT have erred in law, and support your UT appeal.

It doesn't really matter whether your FtT Judge refused your UT appeal, or you apply direct to them, all the evidence in your case bundle will be exactly the same as what the DWP has provided.

In conclusion, if your UT is approved, then in the majority of cases, the UT will not make a new decision on your FtT, it will be passed to a different FtT with directions from the UT Judge on what mistakes if any your original FtT made, and how they should be corrected.

I hope this explains things clearly.

Regards.

Jim