Commentary on provisions of the Act Section 50: Procedure for Tribunal Procedure Rules
Section 49 provides time limits for the consideration of an appeal in relation to suspensive claims and for these time limits to be set out in Tribunal Procedure Rules. Such Rules are normally made by the Tribunal Procedure Committee which must follow certain procedures, including consultation; this typically takes a period of months. This section provides for the first set of Tribunal Procedure Rules to be made by the Lord Chancellor, rather than the Tribunal Procedure Committee. Before making such Rules, the Lord Chancellor is required to consult the Senior President of Tribunals, the Lord Chief Justices of England and Wales and Northern Ireland, and the Lord President of the Court of Session. These Rules would be subject to the made affirmative procedure (rather than, as now, the negative procedure). The power to make rules would then immediately revert to the Tribunal Procedure Committee.