The Telecommunications (Appeals) Regulations 1999

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations implement provisions in Directive 97/13/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on a common framework for general authorisations and individual licences in the field of telecommunications services and Directive 97/51/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Council Directives 90/387/EEC and 92/44/EEC for the purposes of adaptation to a competitive environment in telecommunications, which require Member States to provide an appeals procedure in relation to certain decisions of national regulatory authorities in the field of telecommunications.

The Regulations insert a new section 46B into the Telecommunications Act 1984 specifying that parties may appeal to the court against certain decisions of the Secretary of State or the Director General of Telecommunications on grounds of error of fact, error of law, procedural error or other illegality. The types of decision which are subject to this appeals procedure are set out in section 46B(1). The new appeals procedure replaces the existing procedures for reviewing licence enforcement decisions in sections 18(1) and (2), which are repealed.

The Regulations also amend the Telecommunications (Interconnection) Regulations 1997, the Telecommunications (Open Network Provision and Leased Lines) Regulations 1997 and the Telecommunications (Open Network Provision) (Voice Telephony) Regulations 1998 to apply the new appeals procedure to decisions made under those Regulations in the same way as it applies to decisions under the Telecommunications Act 1984.

The Regulations insert a new section 1F into the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949 which provides a similar mechanism for appealing against certain decisions of the Secretary of State in the field of wireless telegraphy.