The Child Support Commissioners (Procedure) Regulations 1992

PART IV DECISIONS

Determinations and decisions of a Commissioner

18.—(1) The determination of a Commissioner on an application for leave to appeal shall be in writing and signed by him.

(2) The decision of a Commissioner on an appeal shall be in writing and signed by him and, except in respect of a decision made with the consent of the parties, he shall record the reasons.

(3) A copy of the determination or decision and any reasons shall be sent to the parties by the office of the Child Support Commissioners.

(4) Without prejudice to paragraphs (2) and (3), a Commissioner may announce his determination or decision at the conclusion of an oral hearing.

(5) When giving his decision on an application or appeal, whether in writing or orally, a Commissioner shall omit any reference to the surname of any child to whom the appeal relates and any other information which would be likely, whether directly or indirectly, to identify that child.

Correction of accidental errors in decisions

19.—(1) Subject to regulation 21, accidental errors in any decision or record of a decision may at any time be corrected by the Commissioner who gave the decision.

(2) A correction made to, or to the record of, a decision shall become part of the decision or record thereof and written notice thereof shall be given by the office of the Child Support Commissioners to any party to whom notice of the decision had previously been given.

Setting aside of decisions on certain grounds

20.—(1) Subject to the following provisions of this regulation and regulation 21, on an application made by any party a decision may be set aside by the Commissioner who gave the decision in a case where it appears just to do so on the ground that—

(a) a document relating to the proceedings was not sent to, or was not received at an appropriate time by, a party or his representative, or was not received at an appropriate time by the Commissioner; or

(b) a party or his representative had not been present at an oral hearing which had been held in the course of the proceedings; or

(c) there has been some other procedural irregularity or mishap.

(2) An application under this regulation shall be made in writing to a Commissioner within 30 days from the date on which notice in writing of the decision was given by the office of the Child Support Commissioners to the party making the application.

(3) Where an application to set aside a decision is made under paragraph (1), each party shall be sent by the office of the Child Support Commissioners a copy of the application and shall be afforded a reasonable opportunity of making representations on it before the application is determined.

(4) Notice in writing of a determination of an application to set aside a decision shall be given by the office of the Child Support Commissioners to each party and shall contain a statement giving the reasons for the determination.

Provisions common to regulations 19 and 20

21.—(1) In regulations 19 and 20 the word “decision” shall include determinations of applications for leave to appeal as well as decisions on appeals.

(2) Subject to a direction by a Commissioner to the contrary, in calculating any time for applying for leave to appeal against a Commissioner’s decision there shall be disregarded any day falling before the day on which notice was given of a correction of a decision or the record thereof pursuant to regulation 19 or on which notice was given of a determination that a decision shall not be set aside under regulation 20, as the case may be.

(3) There shall be no appeal against a correction or a refusal to correct under regulation 19 or a determination given under regulation 20.

(4) If it is impracticable or likely to cause undue delay for a decision or record of a decision to be dealt with pursuant to regulation 19 or 20 by the Commissioner who gave the decision, the Chief Commissioner or another Commissioner may deal with the matter.