Part 1: Tribunals and Inquiries Schedule 3 Section 35: Transfer of Ministerial responsibilities for certain tribunals
187.Section 35 makes it possible to transfer to the Lord Chancellor administrative functions of other ministers (and functions of the Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs) in relation to tribunals listed in Schedule 6. The power is similar to the power under section 1 of the Ministers of the Crown Act 1975 which enables transfer of functions between ministers.
188.Subsections (8) and (9) taken together prevent functions transferred to the Lord Chancellor from being transferred to another Minister of the Crown under subsection (1) or under the Ministers of the Crown Act 1975. This will replicate the effect of section 19 of, and Schedule 7 to, the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, entrenching judiciary-related functions in the office of the Lord Chancellor, and so helping to secure the independence of tribunals from the departments formerly responsible for them.