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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. It is possible when seeking redress for a specific incident to gain Legal Aid for the case when proceeding through the courts; this is no Legal Aid for Tribunals though it is the intention for them to be much cheaper than the court system. It has been shown however that having legal representation at the tribunal can substantially increase the likelihood of success. In the Social Security Appeal Tribunal research showed that an applicant's chance of success rose from 30per cent to 48 per cent when they had legal representation. This casts some doubt about the system, which is supposed to be fair for all but has been proven that if you have a lawyer representing you the chances of success are greater. The advantage of choosing the tribunal system is that it is not strictly bound by the restrictions of rules of evidence and precedent. Although, tribunals are to some degree bound by the decisions of other tribunals they have a greater degree of flexibility in their decision-making powers. This in itself means that tribunals can give the appellant a greater chance of success especially since tribunals can admit evidence that a court might perhaps refuse to listen to, for example hearsay evidence. The use of experts within the tribunal system is exploited to a greater extent in tribunals; Doctors Chartered Surveyors and other professional experts can be called to give their opinion on certain forms of evidence. This is the same typically in the court system but in tribunals the Chairperson can ask questions themselves and ask for opinions, in the courts the experts are usually asked only to provide facts and conclusions are drawn from those presented. In De Smith and Brazier (1990) it is illustrated the ways in which tribunals often take an active part in finding out aspects of the information themselves. Tribunals can appear at times to be inquisitorial in the approach they tend not to rely solely on the facts presented by the two opposing sides. In 1957 the Franks Committee published a report that examined Tribunals and Enquiries its findings stated that the main principles for tribunals were that they be open, fair, impartial, efficient, expedient and economical . These are the main principles, which are thought to make tribunals a better system than the courts for some matters. The openness stems form the fact that the majority of tribunals are held publicly and the findings are often publicised in the newspapers, especially as regards industrial tribunals, others like children's hearings are discussed in private. This allows the public to easily access the information easier than through the court system. Since the court system is very formal often it can be difficult for those without a law background to understand some of the legal aspects related to a case. The fairness of the tribunal stems form the fact that all appellants are told what their rights are regarding a tribunal are and are also informed of the procedures involved making them easier to understand than the court system. With tradition dictating most of the procedures in court the individuals can often feel overawed by the system, perhaps making it more difficult for them to express their point of view clearly and concisely in a court setting. Tribunals should be impartial, to the same degree as the court system with the members of the panel not being prejudice or favourable to any particular side the same principle and standards are true in this respect for both the courts and tribunals. However, in cases where a person represents themselves at a tribunal the Chairman can direct them in certain ways to ensure that all the facts of the case are drawn out ensuring the full case is presented. The aspects of efficiency, expedience and economy are interrelated to a certain extent. Courts are extremely expensive to use the costs involved can sometimes makes it impractical as a course of action. Conversely tribunals have relatively few costs attached unless the individual concerned has elected to have legal representation, this often makes it more expedient in cases like industrial tribunals which can be drawn out over a long period of time, making them faster in their resolution. When discussing the advantages and disadvantages of the courts and tribunal systems it is important to note that they have their benefits according to the situation or type of case being examined. The courts are the traditional forms of dispute resolution for both criminal and private law, they have precedent and rules of law to uphold ensuring that every case is tried the same way ensuring fairness for all. Tribunals on the other hand cost the appellant nothing to take part in and can be good at resolving cases where expert evidence is required, a good example of this is the Monopolies and Mergers Commission, which has the specialist expertise to make, reasoned decisions in these areas. In addition as discussed in Finch and Ashton (1997) the fact that the state is 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. 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. Word Count: 1207
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