Judicial skills articles

Assessing credibility – Genn

Judicial Skills: 1. Assimilating and Clarifying Information.

Warns of the difficulty of assessing credibility, is someone telling the truth? In particular, warns against placing too much weight on the demeanour of a witness.

The introduction – Deans

Judicial Skills: 2. Working with Others and 6. Communicating Effectively

A brief guide to the tribunal introduction. What would you want to know if you were appearing before the tribunal?

Establishing facts – Bano

Judicial Skills: 1. Assimilating and Clarifying Informationand 3. Exercising Judgement

Outlines a methodical approach to assessing the evidence and finding the facts in a case.

(Perils of the) Online World – Clarke

Judicial Skills: 1. Assimilating and Clarifying Information and 5. Managing Work Efficiently

Spring 2013 The relevance of social media including Twitter and Facebook to the work of judges. Impact on the nature of evidence before tribunals. Touches on Judicial Conduct in relation to social networking.

Reading the papers – Ockelton

Judicial Skills: 5. Managing Work Efficientlyand 6. Communicating Effectively

A fictional scenario illustrates what can happen when the tribunal has not read the papers in advance. Why it is important to prepare adequately and some techniques for doing so (such as developing a form …

Burden and standard of proof – Cooper

Judicial Skills: 1. Assimilating and Clarifying Information and 3. Exercising Judgement

Considers the rules of evidence as applicable in tribunals by comparison with proceedings in criminal law. What is the burden of proof? What is the standard of proof? How is this affected by the more …

The more preparation the better (dealing with misconceptions of an unrepresented party, despite pre-hearing advice) – Williams

Judicial Skills: 2. Working with Others and 6. Communicating Effectively

A welfare rights adviser gives some helpful insights into the misconceptions that an unrepresented party may bring to a tribunal hearing, even after having had some preparatory advice about what to expect.

Handling unrepresented or poorly represented parties – Cuthbert

Judicial Skills: 2. Working with Others and 6. Communicating Effectively

Tribunals should be interventionist and enabling when a party is unrepresented or their representation is poor. However, caution must be exercised, avoiding taking over a party’s case and initiating new arguments on their behalf.

Links that may cast doubt on objectivity – Stacey

Judicial Skills:2. Working with Others and 3. Exercising Judgement

An update on the article “When not to sit”, dealing with the implications of some recent case law. What type of relationship between a party’s representative and a tribunal member may give rise to a …

Hearing rooms – Bano

Judicial Skills: 2. Working with Others and 5. Managing Work Efficiently

Considers how to prepare a hearing room, especially when sharing accommodation which may not have been designed with tribunal hearings in mind. Includes ensuring that the hearing room complies with legal requirements.

Listening and asking questions – Parry

Judicial Skills: 6. Communicating Effectively

A succinct guide to ways of obtaining information and showing understanding by listening and questioning techniques, including the use of silence, rephrasing and different types of questions.

Communication – Brown

Judicial Skills: 6. Communicating Effectively

Vol.9, Issue 2 – 2002 A guide to the communication skills required by all tribunal members. Covers active listening and asking questions, including open, closed and inappropriate types of questions. How to ensure participants understand …

Finding facts and weighing evidence – Bano

Judicial Skills: 1. Assimilating and Clarifying Information and 3. Exercising Judgement

How to deal with different sources of evidence, including oral and expert evidence, dealing with conflicting evidence, assigning weight to evidence and ensuring that the tribunal’s conclusions are based on the evidence as a whole.

Dealing with vexatious litigants – Auerbach

Judicial Skills: 5. Managing Work Efficiently

Considers the powers of courts and tribunals to bring vexatious proceedings to a close. The article is primarily concerned with claimants in the Employment Tribunal.

Weighing the evidence – Mullan and Wilton

Judicial Skills: 1. Assimilating and Clarifying Information and 3. Exercising Judgement

How a tribunal should obtain and assess the relevant evidence and make findings of fact based on that evidence. Covers nature and weight of evidence, the burden and standard of proof, witness and expert evidence, …

A light that illuminates the obscure (expert evidence) – Hinchliffe

Judicial Skills: 1. Assimilating and Clarifying Information, 3. Exercising Judgement, 4. Possessing and Building Knowledge and 6. Communicating Effectively

A wide-ranging review of how tribunals may make use of and test expert evidence and the problems arising. Limitations on deployment of the tribunal’s own expertise, such as the medical member in the mental health …

Giving effect to the overriding objective – Blake

Judicial Skills: 2. Working with Others and 5. Managing Work Efficiently

A case note on MA v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions [2009] UKUT 211(AAC), in which the Upper Tribunal gave guidance on how to apply the overriding objective of dealing with cases fairly …

Inquisitorial interventions – Bano

Judicial Skills: 2. Working with Others

An overview of the historical origins of the inquisitorial character of tribunals. Reviews the reasons for the 2001 Leggatt review’s conclusions that “the tribunal approach must be an enabling one”, without going so far on …