summons and witness name and addreses DWP /ATOS/ tribunal rules
Dear Department for Work and Pensions,
Dear Sir/ Madam
Following due process of the law and the HMCTS
“Any person with a right to be heard at an oral hearing has the right to call witnesses and put questions to another person called as a witness.”
In light of these procedures please explain how the DWP/ATOS may withhold the name and details of the professional health assessors who may be summons by either party following due process. A party may wish to question the assessor, the manager of the DWP or the even the MP in charge of the department of works and pensions.
ATOS /DWP employees responsibilities
“In the Tribunal’s opinion, your duty to provide the panel with helpful and objective evidence takes precedence over your obligations to your employer, and you should not be penalised for doing so. The best thing to do in this situation would be to ask to be issued with a witness summons so that you have no choice but to attend the hearing.”
“You (the party summoning the witness) may ask the tribunal to issue a witness order, which will summon someone that you want to have at the hearing, even if they do not want to be there. You must apply in writing well before the hearing”.
Procedures
For a summons to be issued:
If you do so, you (the party summoning the witness) will need to tell the tribunal:
• the name and address of the witness
• what the witness will say and how it will help your case
• why the witness is not willing to come to the hearing voluntarily.
Statement of witnesses
I understand that my overriding duty is to assist the tribunal in matters within my expertise, and that this duty overrides any obligation to those instructing me or their clients. I confirm I have complied with that duty and will continue to do so.
I confirm that I have made clear which facts and matters referred to in this report are within my own knowledge and which are not. Those that are within my own knowledge I confirm to be true. The opinions I have expressed represent my true and complete opinions on the matters to which they refer.”
Therefore please explain how the information of assessors /DWP decision makers can be withheld to a claimant pursuing the due process of the tribunal and the rule of law. The right to a fair trial is absolute and cannot be limited in civil and criminal cases.
tribunal rules
(2) If a party has failed to comply with a requirement in these Rules, a practice
direction or a direction, the Tribunal may take such action as it considers just, which
may include–
(a) waiving the requirement;
(b) requiring the failure to be remedied;
(c) exercising its power under rule 8 (striking out a party’s case); or
(d) exercising its power under paragraph (3).
(3) The Tribunal may refer to the Upper Tribunal, and ask the Upper Tribunal to
exercise its power under section 25 of the 2007 Act in relation to, any failure by a person to comply with a requirement imposed by the Tribunal–
(a) to attend at any place for the purpose of giving evidence;
(b) otherwise to make themselves available to give evidence;
(c) to swear an oath in connection with the giving of evidence;
(d) to give evidence as a witness;
(e) to produce a document; or
(f) to facilitate the inspection of a document or any other thing (including any
premises).
Striking out a party’s case
8.—(1) The proceedings, or the appropriate part of them, will automatically be
struck out if the appellant has failed to comply with a direction that stated that failure
by a party to comply with the direction would lead to the striking out of the proceedings or that part of them.
(2) The Tribunal must strike out the whole or a part of the proceedings if the
Tribunal–
(a) does not have jurisdiction in relation to the proceedings or that part of them;
and
(b) does not exercise its power under rule 5(3)(k)(i) (transfer to another court or tribunal) in relation to the proceedings or that part of them.
Yours faithfully,
mr jones
This is an automated confirmation that your request for information has
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References
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Dear Mr Jones,
Please see our response to your recent Freedom of Information request.
Yours sincerely
Correspondence Team |Business Management Team | Health Services
Directorate | Finance Group | Department for Work and Pensions | Green
Zone 2nd Floor, West Wing, Phase 2 | Peel Park | Brunel Way | Blackpool |
FY4 5ES |
Dear Department for Work and Pensions,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Department for Work and Pensions's handling of my FOI request 'summons and witness name and addreses DWP /ATOS/ tribunal rules'.
You failed to answer the question and submit it as a complaint , which it is not, yet .I am dissatisfied as it does not answer the question . As such I would like a review to confirm the situation with regard to a DWP tribunal regulations.
This would be in the interest of the public as the DWP are a public body
You failed to recognise the request would be in the public's interest, as members of the public are actually attending tribunals and clarification is needed on whether members of the public have the right to question the opposite side ? or do they not.
It is not a complaint as you suggest , just clarification of the procedures .Please confirm if members of the public can summons the atos assessor , the decision maker or the MP according to the tribunal rules , members of the public can request this . Please clarify the situation on behalf of the DWP.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/s...
Yours faithfully,
mr jones
This is an automated confirmation that your request for information has
been accepted by the DWP FoI mailbox.
By the next working day your request will be forwarded to the relevant
information owner within the Department who will respond to you direct.
If your email is a Freedom of Information request you can normally
expect a response within 20 working days.
Should you have any further queries in connection with this request do
please contact us.
For further information on the Freedom of Information Act within DWP
please click on the link below.
[1]http://www.dwp.gov.uk/freedom-of-informa...
References
Visible links
1. http://www.dwp.gov.uk/freedom-of-informa...
Dear Mr Jones,
Please see our response to your recent Freedom of Information Review
request.
Yours sincerely
Correspondence Team |Business Management Team | Health Services
Directorate | Finance Group | Department for Work and Pensions | Green
Zone 2nd Floor, West Wing, Phase 2 | Peel Park | Brunel Way | Blackpool |
FY4 5ES |
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