Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007

Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007

2007 CHAPTER 15

Part 1: Tribunals and Inquiries

Commentary on Sections: Part 1

Section 27: Enforcement

156. Subsections (1) to (3) ensure that monetary awards made by the First-tier and Upper Tribunals are enforceable through the courts. These provisions do not alter the methods of enforcement by the courts.

157. Many tribunal awards in England and Wales are currently enforced through the county court, but there are some where enforcement is currently through the High Court (e.g. the Lands Tribunal where enforcement may be through either court, and the Transport Tribunal where enforcement is in the High Court). Subsection (1) states that a sum payable following a decision of either the First-tier or Upper Tribunal will be recoverable as if it were payable either under an order of a county court in England and Wales or an order of the High Court in England and Wales.

158. Subsection (2) makes corresponding provision for Scotland. An order for payment made as a result of a decision of either the First-tier or Upper Tribunal made in Scotland (or a copy of such an order certified in accordance with Tribunal Procedure Rules) may be enforced as if it were an extract registered decree arbitral bearing a warrant for execution issued by the sheriff court of any sheriffdom in Scotland (i.e. without the intermediate step of registering the decision with the sheriff court).

159. Subsection (3) makes corresponding provision for Northern Ireland. An order for payment made as a result of a decision of either the First-tier or Upper Tribunal in Northern Ireland will be recoverable as if it were payable under either an order of a county court or the High Court in Northern Ireland.

160. Subsection (4) provides that the enforcement provisions in the preceding subsections do not apply to awards of damages, restitution or the recovery of a sum due made to an applicant by the Upper Tribunal exercising its judicial review powers under sections 16(6) or 21(1), because enforcement of such awards is dealt with in sections 16(7) and 21(4).

161. Subsection (5) empowers the Lord Chancellor to make an order (applying to England and Wales or to Northern Ireland) stipulating that a sum of a description specified in the order (payable in pursuance of a decision of the First-tier or Upper Tribunal) may be recoverable as if it were payable either under an order of a county court, or under an order of the High Court, but not both.

162. Subsection (6) allows for Tribunal Procedure Rules to be made which spell out where for the purposes of the enforcement provisions a decision is to be taken to have been made. This is necessary due to the different enforcement methods that apply to Scotland compared with England and Wales. Rules might, for example, provide that where a tribunal is sitting in Scotland to hear a case arising under the law of England and Wales, any sum payable in pursuance of a decision of the tribunal is recoverable as if the decision had been made in England and Wales. Subsection (6) also allows Rules to provide for some sums not to be recoverable under the provisions of the section. This might be appropriate where the particular legislation under which a tribunal is acting contains its own procedures for enforcing awards.