Understanding and developing user-focused tribunal hearings

This project will explore the concept of “user focus” and examine the ways in which tribunals have developed user-focused approaches following an extensive programme of legislative reform and modernisation.

Why this project is important

Tribunals are a crucial route to accessing justice. Since the Franks Report (1957), government policy has assumed that tribunals are a user-friendly means of resolving disputes, allowing citizens to conduct cases without lawyers. This view was integral to the Transforming Public Services: Complaints, Redress, and Tribunals (2004) whitepaper, laying the foundation for the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 and the Tribunals (Scotland) Act 2014. However, despite reforms aimed at making tribunals user-focused, there is limited empirical research on how these ambitions are being realised and how user focus can be enhanced in future policy and practice.

What it will involve

Focussing on hearings in social security, housing, and education tribunals, the research team aim to:

• Compare approaches to the conduct of hearings between different tribunal chambers and between tribunals operating on a Great Britain, England-only and a Scotland-only basis.
• Examine how, in practice, the judicialisation of the tribunal system affects the conduct of hearings and the extent to which they are user-focused.
• Compare various approaches to conducting hearings (e.g. face-to-face, hybrid, video, and telephone) and various hearing practices (e.g. inquisitorial, enabling, active), in relation to whether these meet users’ needs.
• Examine the role of lay members and how their presence in tribunal hearings contributes to user-focus.
• Identify best practices in relation to the user-focused conduct of hearings, explore the extent to which such practices are transferable, and develop a “bottom-up” understanding of user-focus.

How it will make a difference

Completion of the research will help inform future policy and practice by developing models based on user experience, identifying models of good practice, and highlighting potential for learning across chambers and jurisdictions. Key stakeholders for the project include tribunal judges, chairs, lay members, third sector advice and advocacy groups, user representative groups, and policymakers. Findings will be disseminated through development of a toolkit, stakeholder workshops, policy briefs, and blogs.