The Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) is (and has been since June 1, 2009), the appellate body for, inter alia, the LVT and the RPTS. When it was established, it adopted the existing procedural rules previously used by the Lands Tribunal, its predecessor.

Those rules were, frankly, not very good. In particular, they didn’t make any provision for the possibility of a cross-appeal (as to which, and the problems that caused, see Arrowdell v Coniston Court (North) LRA/72/2005). Accordingly, now that the Upper Tribunal has settled in to its new role, it’s decided to issue some new draft procedural rules for public consultation.

The primary differences between the draft rules and the old Lands Tribunal rules relate to procedure on appeals; cross appeals are introduced, as are respondent’s notices. The rules committee is particularly keen to hear from people with views about the various time limits, and, in particular, whether time should run from the date on which a notice or document is sent.

The draft rules, old rules, consultation document and questions are available here and interested parties should respond by June 20, 2010.