1. These rules may be cited as the Competition Commission Appeal Tribunal Rules 2000 and shall come into force on 1st March 2000.
2.—(1) A Registrar of Appeal Tribunals shall be appointed by the Competition Commission with the approval of the Secretary of State.
(2) Any person appointed to be the Registrar shall–
(a)have a seven year general qualification within the meaning of section 71 of the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990(1);
(b)be an advocate or solicitor in Scotland of at least seven years standing; or
(c)be–
(i)a member of the Bar of Northern Ireland; or
(ii)a solicitor of the Supreme Court of Northern Ireland
of at least seven years standing.
(3) The Registrar shall act in accordance with the instructions of the President and shall, in particular, be responsible for:–
(a)the establishment and maintenance of a register in which all pleadings and supporting documents and all orders and decisions of the tribunal shall be registered; and
(b)the acceptance, transmission, service and custody of documents in accordance with these rules.
(4) The President may delegate to the Registrar the power to abridge or extend the time prescribed by these rules for the doing of any act.
(5) Any function of the Registrar may be performed on his behalf by any other member of his staff whom the President may authorise for the purpose.
3. For the purposes of proceedings under sections 46 and 47 of the Competition Act 1998 (“the Act”) the address for service of documents on the Competition Commission (referred to in these rules as “the Tribunal address for service ”) is: The Registrar, The Competition Commission Appeal Tribunals, New Court, 48 Carey Street, London WC2A 2JT or such other address as may be notified in the London, Edinburgh and Belfast Gazettes.
4.—(1) The President shall publish the arrangements for constituting tribunals to determine appeals.
(2) If a member of a tribunal constituted by the President in accordance with paragraph 27 of Schedule 7 to the Act ceases to be an appeal panel member or is otherwise unable to act before that tribunal has commenced hearing the appeal in accordance with rules 23 and 24 below, the President may attribute the hearing of that appeal to a differently constituted tribunal.
5. In proceedings before the tribunal, a party may be represented by–
(a)a qualified lawyer having rights of audience before a court in the United Kingdom; or
(b)any other person allowed by the tribunal to appear on his behalf.