19.—(1) Before making a decision on a claim for a relevant benefit, or as to a person’s entitlement to such a benefit or to statutory sick pay or statutory maternity pay, the Department may refer the person—
(a)in respect of whom the claim is made; or
(b)whose entitlement is at issue,
to a medical practitioner for such examination and report as appears to the Department to be necessary for the purpose of providing it with information for use in making the decision.
(2) Paragraph (3) applies where—
(a)the Department has exercised the power conferred on it by paragraph (1); and
(b)the medical practitioner requests the person referred to him to attend for or submit himself to medical examination.
(3) If the person fails without good cause to comply with the request, the Department shall make the decision against him.
20.—(1) This Article applies where an appeal has been brought under Article 13 against a decision on a claim for a relevant benefit, or as to a person’s entitlement to such a benefit or to statutory sick pay or statutory maternity pay.
(2) An eligible person may, if prescribed conditions are satisfied, refer the person—
(a)in respect of whom the claim is made; or
(b)whose entitlement is at issue,
to a medical practitioner for such examination and report as appears to the eligible person to be necessary for the purpose of providing an appeal tribunal with information for use in determining the appeal.
In this paragraph “eligible person” means a person who is eligible to be appointed as the sole member of an appeal tribunal, or to be nominated as the chairman of such a tribunal.
(3) At a hearing before an appeal tribunal, except in prescribed cases or circumstances, the tribunal—
(a)may not carry out a physical examination of the person mentioned in paragraph (2); and
(b)may not require that person to undergo any physical test for the purpose of determining whether he satisfies the condition mentioned in section 73(1)(a) of the Contributions and Benefits Act.