Part 1: Status and Liability
Legal personality
76.Paragraph 1 confirms that the adjudicator has a distinct legal personality which is separate from any person holding the office. This will, for example, allow the adjudicator to enter contracts, and to sue and be sued, in that capacity (as the holder of the office) rather than in an individual capacity.
Exclusion of Crown Status
77.Paragraph 2(1) confirms that the adjudicator does not act on behalf of the Crown (and therefore is not a civil servant) and sub-paragraph (2) states that any staff seconded to the adjudicator are not to be classed as civil servants simply by virtue of working for the adjudicator.
Exemption from liability for damages
78.Paragraph 3 protects the adjudicator and seconded staff from claims for damages by third parties, except where they have acted in bad faith or in breach of human rights. In the absence of this protection it might, for example, be possible for a tied tenant or pub-owning business to claim against the adjudicator for negligence in relation to advice given or the way the adjudicator had carried out an investigation.
