The Social Security (Adjudication) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1995

Disqualification from acting as an adjudicating medical authority or as a member thereof or as a member of a medical appeal tribunal

40.—(1) Subject to paragraphs (2) and (3), a person shall not act as an adjudicating medical authority or as a member thereof or as a member of a medical appeal tribunal in any case where he—

(a) is or may be directly affected by that case;

(b) has taken any part in such a case as a medical assessor, or as a medical practitioner who has regularly attended the claimant or to whom any question has been referred for report, or as an employer or as a witness; or

(c) in the case only of a medical appeal tribunal, has acted as an adjudicating medical authority, or as a member thereof, to whom the case was referred.

(2) A medical practitioner to whom a question has been referred under regulation 45(1) (reference of diagnosis and recrudescence questions for medical report) shall not be precluded from acting as an adjudicating medical practitioner solely by reason of his having prepared, under that regulation, a report on the case of the claimant (whether in relation to the question for determination or otherwise) if he proposes to determine the question in favour of the claimant.

(3) A medical practitioner shall not be precluded from acting as a member of a medical board for the purpose of the consideration of a case solely because he has taken part in that case as a medical practitioner to whom a question relating to any of the diseases numbered B6, C15, C17, C18 C22(b), Dl, D2, D3, D7, D8, D9, D10, D11 or D12 in Part I of Schedule 1 to the Prescribed Diseases Regulations(1); has been referred for report.

(4) Where an adjudicating medical authority or a medical appeal tribunal is unable to determine a question by reason of the provisions of paragraph (1), the reference to that authority or tribunal shall be revoked and the case shall be referred to another such authority or tribunal.

(1)

Relevant amending regulations are S.R. 1986 No. 270, S.R. 1987 No. 116, S.R. 1991 No. 414 and S.R. 1993 Nos. 148 and 350