HM Courts Upper Tribunal (Administrative Appeals Chamber)

5th Floor Rolls Building

& Tribunals 7 Rolls Buildings, Fetter Lane
Service London EC4A 1NL

Tel: 020 7071 5662

Fax: 0870 324 0028
Typetalk: 18001 020 7071 5662
Email: adminappeals@hmcts.gsi.gov.uk
Website: www.gov.uk/utaac
DX: DX 160042 STRAND 4

Mrf' Our Ref: GIA/1619/2018

3~ nt
Grl\
ON:},.
27 Jun 2018

Dear M. "+

Re: (" .•.v ICO

Thank you for your application to the Upper Tribunal which we received on 25th June 2018.

Your personal case reference number appears above. Please quote it whenever you
contact us.

We will now ask the First-tier Tribunal office for their file of papers for your case. When it
arrives we will send your application and the tribunal file to the Upper Tribunal judge.

We will contact you again in due course.

You can visit our website www.gov.uklutaac which contains useful information and access to
forms, guidance notes and our frequently asked questions document. If you are unable to
access the internet, please ask a member of staff to send you a guidance leaflet relating to
your type of case.

Yours sincerely,

Daniel Money
Clerk to the Upper Tribunal

GIA84DOT Page 1 of 1
 HM Courts
& Tribunals
Service
Upper Tribunal (Administrative Appeals Chambet) - UT(AAC)
Frequently Asked Questions Leaflet

The list below contains the questions which other users of the Upper Tribunal Administrative
Appeals Chamber (UT(AAC) ask us most frequently. We hope you will find this leaflet useful.
Please keep it to hand throughout your case. It is intended as a guide only and procedures will
vary from case to case.
This leaflet does not have legal status. If you have a question about the how your case is dealt
with and it is not answered below, you may get in touch with UT(AAC) staff who will do their best
to help you, but please note they cannot discuss the merits of a case, or give legal advice or
answer legal questions.
You can also visit our website (www.justice.gov.uk) which contains useful information. If you are
unable to access the internet, please ask a member of staff to send you a guidance leaflet relating
to you r type of case.
Please note that if you wish to appeal to the UT(AAC) against a decision given by a First-tier
Tribunal (FtT) you need to be allowed (given permission) to appeal first. This means that your case
may have several stages:
• The first stage is that you must have applied to the First-tier Tribunal for permission to
appeal. You should have done this before Iyou fill in a form to apply to the UT(AAC)
• The second stage is to apply to the UT(AA\C) for permission to appeal or to appeal if the First-
tier Tribunal has given you permission. ;

1. What happens when you receive my

I application or appeal form?
• We will register your case on our database, and send you (and your representative if you
have one) an acknowledgement letter. .
• We will send you a personal case reference number which enables us to track your case
quickly, so please make sure that you quote this number when you or your representative
writes or phones. This number is different from any First-tier Tribunal (FtT) reference
number.

• We will then write to the FtT office where your case was originally heard, and ask them for
your file. It may take a couple of weeks for the file to arrive.

2. - What happens next?

• When we receive the file, we will send your case to an Upper Tribunal Judge. He or she will
look at the papers in your case, and will decide what will happen next.
• We will write to you to let you know what the Judge has decided.

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3. Can I have a representative to act on my behalf?
• Yes, you can have a representative, whether legally qualified or not, to help you to fill in your
forms, deal with letters from us, make and reply to submissions, and appear in front of the
Judge if there is an oral hearing of your case.
• You should note that we cannot recommend a representative or help find you one. You must
do this yourself.
• You can consult a solicitor, Citizens' Advice Bureau, Trade Union, or other welfare rights
benefits adviser. You can find their details in your local library or telephone directory.
• You may also have a member of your family or a friend as a representative.
• If you do have a representative, we will send both of you our first acknowledgement letter
and the final decision or ruling in your case" but otherwise we will send all other letters and
documents only to your representative; it.is their job to keep you informed of the progress
of your case so if you are not sure about ·anything you should ringAhem rather than our
office. .

• You must write and let us know if your representative stops acting for you or you have a new
representative. We cannot deal with this on the telephone.

4. Do I have to pay a fee for my case? .

• No. There are no fees for starting a case at the UT(AAC).

5. Are there any other parties involved inmy case?

• Yes. Depending on the type of decision you are appealing against, the other party (a
respondent) may, for example, be the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions; a local
authority; Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs; the Independent Safeguarding Authority or
other organisation. However, if you are applying for permission to appeal there is not likely
to be any other party. We will let you know if there is.
• It is also possible for individuals or organisations who were parties to a case at the FtT to
appeal to the UT(AAC) from a decision of that tribunal which was in your favour. In a
housing benefit case, for example, a local authority could appeal to the UT(AAC) against a
FtT decision which you won. You could therefore become a party to a case at the UT(AAC) ,
even though you did not appeal against the FtT's decision yourself. We will write to you if
this happens.

6. Do I get the opportunity to put my comments forward?

• The Upper Tribunal Judge will decide the order in which the parties are to make their written
comments (called observations or submissions).
• We will write to you (or your representative) with the Judge's instructions in the case.
• You should note that all comments or observations made by one party will be copied to all
the other parties.

2
7. How long will my case take?
• This is a difficult question to answer precisely, as each individual case is different. Please
note that we cannot give a time estimate in any case.
• Generally, we aim to deal with applications (where permission to appeal has been refused
by the FtT) within 10 weeks of receiving your application in this office, and appeals (where
permission has been granted by the FtT, or an Upper Tribunal Judge has granted
permission to appeal) within 20 weeks of receipt in this office. Please note that these
timescales can go up and down depending upon the number of cases in the UT(AAC) office.
In any event, if your case is complex, it may take longer.
• If the Upper Tribunal Judge decides th~re should be an oral hearing, the case may take
longer. I

• If you do not send in all the documents v!/e ask for, or miss time limits, this can cause delay,
and we may have to write to you again before we can process your case any further. Please
carefully read the guidance given in our application forms regarding documents and
information that you are required to send'in. Please also read any instructions sent to you.
• You should note that it is not helpful to send in comments unless you have been asked to. It
is likely to delay your case and the Judge may refuse to take extra comments into account

8. Can I speak to the Judge or Registrars about my case?

• Judges carry out an independent judicial role and must be seen to be fair. Therefore they
must not speak directly to any of the parties to the case on the telephone. If an oral hearing
has been directed, you can speak to the judge at the hearing. It is also not possible to speak
to Registrars as they are independent lawyers who carry out procedural work for the judges.

9. Can you pass information to the Judge for me?

• Generally we will write to you and ask for your comments or observations when we are
instructed to do so by the Judge.
• If you wish to communicate any information to the Judge, you or your representative should
do so in writing. Office staff are unable to pass on any comments or information to the Judge
unless it is submitted in writing.
• If you have not been asked for observations the judge may refuse to take them into account

10. When will the Judge hear my case'~

• The Upper Tribunal Judges decide most cases without the need for an oral hearing. He or
she will look at your reasons for appealir'lg and the written comments made by all the other
parties. This is called "deciding a case pn the papers". However, at various stages of the
case you may be given the opportunity to request a hearing and the Judge will decide
whether there should be one.

• If the Judge grants your request for an oral hearing or decides there should be one anyway,
we will write to you and let you and the other parties to the case know.
• Our Listings Team will then make the arrangements for the hearing, and will let all the
parties know the date, time and place where the hearing is to be. It may take a little while to
arrange.

3
 • Hearings usually take place in London, but may be in other places closer to your home, and
may be in Cardiff if you live in Wales. Hearings may also be conducted by video-link.
• In certain jurisdictions, some limited expenses may be claimed in connection with travelling
to and from an oral hearing. If it applies to your case, you will be sent a leaflet telling you
about the expenses procedure. You should not make arrangements for attending a hearing
until you have been sent the details by the Listings Team. In all cases you will be advised
what will happen in the tribunal hearing robm
I nearer the time of the hearing.

11. How will I get my decision?

• The UT(AAC) office sends out all decisions given by Judges to all the parties in the case at
the same time, and in writing only.
• Office staff are unable to give out the result of your case over the telephone.
• Please note that if any arrears of benefit are payable to you as a result of the Judge's
decision, this will be paid by the local DWP office or local authority who originally refused
you benefit and you should get in touch with them if there is any delay in paying you. This is
not something we can do anything about.
• If the Upper Tribunal Judge has said your case should be decided again by a new First-tier
Tribunal, the arrangements for a re-hearing of your case by the FtT will be arranged by the
FtT office, and you should contact that office for further details.
• You will be sent details about what to do if you wish to appeal against the decision of the
Upper Tribunal Judge when we send you the decision.
12. General Information:
It is important that you keep all the documents that we send you. After your case is
over we will normally destroy your file containing all the documents after a limited
amount of time.
Please read all letters and other documents that we send you carefully, as these will contain
important instructions and information relating to what is happening in your case.
• You (and other parties involved in the case) will be given time limits in which to, for example,
make submissions, or you may receive other instructions from the Judge. Please therefore
check carefully any instructions sent to you for time limits.
• If you or your representative telephonEls the office we will need to be told your case
reference number. We will ask you to idehtify yourself, and to confirm some personal details
in order to ensure that we are sharing information about your case with the correct person.
In some circumstances we may call you back.
• If we believe that a person who rings our office is not an authorised party to a case, we may
withhold information. This is to ensure the confidentiality of your case.
• If you ask, for example, a family member or friend to ring us to find out information about
your case on your behalf, we will not normally be able to give it to them unless you have
previously authorised that person in writing to represent you.
• Please let us know as soon as possible (in writing only) if you change address or
representative.
• Our office cannot investigate any complaint about what happened at a First-tier Tribunal.
You should contact their office directly.
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