National Insurance Act 1965

77 Constitution of local tribunals.

(1) A local tribunal for the purposes of sections 67 to 72 of this Act shall consist of—

(a) one member drawn from a panel composed of persons representing employers and persons representing insured persons other than employed persons;

(b) one member drawn from a panel of persons representing employed persons;

(c) a person appointed by the Minister to act as chairman.

(2) The panels referred to in subsection (1) of this section shall be constituted by the Minister for the whole of Great Britain, and each panel shall relate to such area as the Minister thinks fit, and be composed of such persons as the Minister sees fit to appoint.

(3) Before appointing members to either of the panels, the Minister may take into consideration any recommendation from a local advisory committee constituted under section 89 of this Act or from any other local committee representing employers or insured persons or both, or from organisations concerned with the interests of employers or insured persons, including friendly societies or organisations representative of friendly societies.

(4) The members of the panels shall hold office for such period as the Minister may direct:

Provided that the Minister may at any time terminate the appointment of any member of a panel.

(5) So far as practicable, each member of a panel shall be summoned to serve in turn upon a local tribunal:

Provided that—

(a) no member of a panel shall sit upon a local tribunal during the consideration of a case—

(i) in which he appears as the representative of the claimant; or

(ii) by which he is or may be directly affected ; or

(iii) in which he has taken any part as an official of an association, or as an employer, or as a witness, or as a person to whom any question arising thereon has been referred for examination and report in accordance with section 64(3) or with regulations under section 73(1) of this Act or otherwise;

(b) where the benefit claimed is unemployment benefit, the member chosen from the first panel shall, if practicable, be a representative of employers; and

(c) in any case in which the claimant is a woman, at least one of the members of the tribunal, if practicable, shall be a woman.

(6) Any case may, with the consent of the claimant but not otherwise, be proceeded with in the absence of any member of the local tribunal other than the chairman, and in any such case the tribunal shall be deemed to be properly constituted and the chairman shall, if the number of the members of the tribunal is an even number, have a second or casting vote.

(7) A person appointed to act as chairman of a local tribunal shall hold and vacate office in accordance with the terms of his letter of appointment.

(8) Where several persons are appointed to act as chairmen for a particular area they shall as far as practicable be invited to preside over a tribunal in turn:

Provided that this subsection shall not apply to a person expressly appointed to serve as a substitute when some other person may be unwilling or unable to act.