The Pros and Cons of the Tribunal System

Advantages and Disadvantages of the Tribunal System

In order to identify the advantages and disadvantage of the tribunal system and the court system it is necessary to firstly identify what they are, their purpose and then what the advantages and disadvantages of these two systems of dispute resolution are.

The courts are the formal courts of law that have been established over many years. Their purpose is to uphold the law of the land as dictated by statute and impose this law over those who appear to be in contradiction of these laws. A traditional court proceeding involves to opposing parties who present the facts of the case to the court and the presiding judge or sheriff rules in favour of one of the parties. Their judgement is based upon previous rulings and statutory interpretation normally however other factors can be taken into consideration.

A tribunal is not entirely dissimilar to the court system in the way that it works. However it is important to note that 'Tribunals are not ordinary courts, but they are neither appendages of Government Departments' . Tribunals were created to provide an alternative form of dispute resolution independent of the Government Department concerned. A Chairman who listens to the case put forward oversees tribunals. They are aided by Wing members who represent opposing sides of the argument being put forward. The case is presented and with the aid normally of expert opinions from the likes of Doctors and Chartered Surveyors, a decision is made based on the merits of the case.

The courts have been in place for a number of years they have a lot of precedents which means that all cases should be treated in the same way thus allowing the court system to be fair to all....

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... becoming more involved in all aspects of our lives there is a substantial increase in the volume of cases that must be dealt with. Therefore tribunals and the courts are both good systems to have in place as alternative forms of dispute resolution they both have their advantages and disadvantages but often these can be based on the types of case being heard.

Louise Marie O'Brien

9923195

Bibliography:

Bibliography

Blair, S (1999) Scots Administrative Law: cases and materials W. Green/Sweet & Maxwell, Chapter 1

De Smith, S and Brazier, R (1990) Constitutional and Administrative Law Penguin Books, Chapter 31.

Finch, V and Ashton C (1997) Administrative Law in Scotland, W Green and Son Ltd, Chapter 8.

Foulkes, D (1990) Administrative Law, Butterworths, Seventh Edition, Chapter 5.