COAT TRIBUNALS MODEL PRACTICE MANUAL

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COAT TRIBUNALS MODEL PRACTICE MANUAL

• Livingston Armytage
• Centre for Judicial Studies
• armytagl_at_ozemail.com.au

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OVERVIEW

• Consultative process
• COAT/AIJA Conference June 2003
• Members Workshops April 2004
• AAT National Needs Assessment
• Tribunal models
• Literature survey

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RECOMMENDATION

• COAT publishes Tribunals Model Practice Manual

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AIM

• Benchmark of competence and best practice
• One-size-fits-all approach
• Induction and continuing professional development
  needs
• Law and other-trained members

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• How to do it guide
• Stand-alone
• Members may not have access to ancillary training
  and professional development resources
• Not a legal monograph, text book, encyclopedia,
  or members terms-and-conditions manual

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STRUCTURE

• Three parts
• Generic principles of tribunal processes COAT
• Jurisdiction specific applications for each
  tribunal each tribunal
• Personal notes each member

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CONTENT

• Content of Part A as outlined in the table of
  contents

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PART A PRINCIPLES OF TRIBUNAL PROCESSES

• 1 Nature of Tribunals
• 2 Legal Framework
• 3 Principles of Tribunal Processes
• 4 Pre-hearing
• 5 Hearings

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PART A PRINCIPLES OF TRIBUNAL PROCESSES

• 6 Decision-making
• 7 Post-hearing
• 8 Communication
• 9 Case-flow Management
• 10 Conduct
• 11 References

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PART B JURISDICTIONAL GUIDE

• Jurisdiction, powers and functions of tribunal
• Extracts of key statutes, regulations, rules
• Selected case law, major decisions,
  commentaries, references

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• Guidelines to common and/or difficult
  applications
• Hearing procedure checklists
• Template forms, decisions and orders
• Library resources, tables, bulletins

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PART C PERSONAL NOTES

• Selected precedents
• Guidelines
• Updates
• Notes

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APPROACH AND STYLE

• Succinct comprehensive overview of law and
  procedure
• Readily-accessible, practical explanations of
  what to do and how to do it
• Checklists and references to primary resources
• Written in plain language

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MODELS

• Build on existing tribunal materials
• Social Security Appeals Tribunal Members
  Handbook
• Workers Compensation Commission (NSW)
  Arbitrators Manual
• VCAT
• Others

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PRODUCTION

• COAT Publication Sub-Committee
• Writer Tribunal expert
• Editor
• Production schedule
• Soft and hard editions
• Cost-recovery strategy
• Train-the-trainer workshop(s)

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OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS FOR COAT

• 1. Assessment of tribunals
• Eligible organizations
• Jurisdictions and roles
• Composition of membership

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• 2. Professional development program
• Conduct training needs assessment
• Develop targeted training strategy with
  priorities
• Provide train-the-trainer course(s)