Commentary on Sections Part Three: Civil Sanctions Section 54: Appeals
144.This section requires that appeals under Part 3 of the Act must be heard by either the First-tier Tribunal (created by section 3 of the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007) or another statutory tribunal specified by the Minister in the order made under this Part. This exception is to cater for tribunals that will not form part of the First-tier Tribunal, such as the employment tribunals, which currently hear some health and safety appeals and may be an appropriate venue for hearing certain appeals under this Part.
145.Subsection (3)(a) of this section allows the Minister when setting out this power to make provision for the suspension of the effect of a fixed penalty or other requirement during an appeal. This might include provision such as:
	During appeal, a person may apply for the effect of the stop notice to be suspended pending the result of the appeal. If this application is unsuccessful then the notice will remain in force during the appeal; or
	Should the person appeal, the effect of the stop notice may be automatically suspended until the result of the appeal is known.
146.In particular, subsection (3)(b) enables the Minister to make provision about the powers of an appellate body. Examples of the possible powers an appellate body might have are set out in subsection (4) of this section. The appellate body may have power to withdraw or confirm a sanction, power to take such other steps which a regulator could take (e.g. impose another sanction upon the person), and a power to remit the sanctioning decision back to the regulator for further consideration.