Rule 14: Tribunal Procedure (First-tier Tribunal) (Property Chamber) Rules 2013/1169: Representatives

(1) A party may appoint a representative (whether legally qualified or not) to represent that party in the proceedings.

(2) If a party appoints a representative, that party must send or deliver to the Tribunal and to each other party written notice of the representative’s name and address.

(3) Anything permitted or required to be done by or provided to a party under these Rules, a practice direction or a direction may be done by or provided to the representative of that party except—

(a) signing a witness statement; or

(b) sending or delivering a notice under paragraph (2), if the representative is not a person who, for the purposes of the Legal Services Act 2007, is an authorised person in relation to an activity which constitutes the exercise of a right of audience or the conduct of litigation within the meaning of that Act.

(4) A person who receives due notice of the appointment of a representative—

(a) must thereafter provide to the representative any document which is required to be sent to the represented party, and need not provide that document to the represented party; and

(b) may assume that the representative is and remains authorised until receiving written notification to the contrary and an alternative address for communications from the representative or the represented party.

(5) At a hearing a party may be accompanied by another person whose name and address has not been notified under paragraph (2) but who, with the permission of the Tribunal, may act as a representative or otherwise assist in presenting the party’s case at the hearing.

(6) Paragraphs (2) to (4) do not apply to a person who accompanies a party under paragraph (5).

The rules on representation in Tribunal proceedings are radically different to most of those which apply to civil litigation under the Civil Procedure Rules.

To coin a phrase, it’s not unusual for a party to ask that another person speak for them at a hearing, and that prerogative is now incorporated into the new rules.

As from 01 July 2013 however, a representative will also be permitted to conduct proceedings from their inception to final hearing in the same way as a solicitor.

That representation is permitted, irrespective of whether the representative is or is not an authorised person in relation to an activity which constitutes the exercise of a right of audience or the conduct of litigation within the meaning of the Legal Services Act 2007 (an “authorised person”).  The only difference between authorised and non-authorised persons is that an authorised person is entitled to serve notice of acting on the Tribunal and other parties, whereas representatives who are not authorised persons are not so entitled.

Who are the authorised persons referred to in connection with the Legal Services Act 2007? As a rule of thumb, such a person is likely to have legal qualifications, and to know that they are authorised. If in doubt, ask.

One point to bear in mind is that once a representative is appointed, it is to that representative that the other side must send all correspondence relating to the proceedings: there is no obligation to send that correspondence to the party him- or herself. If therefore the relationship with the representative comes to an end whilst proceedings are continuing, it will be vital to notify the Tribunal and all other parties of the new name and address to which documentation must be sent.

The new rules differ again from the Civil Procedure Rules in that both the representative and the represented party are entitled to notify the Tribunal of an alternative address for service of documents. The rules are not clear whether a non-authorised person is empowered to do so. On a literal reading of subrule 4(b), the answer is “yes”. On a broader reading of it, and bearing in mind the restrictions imposed by subrule 2 and 3(b), I would incline more to a negative answer.

Rather startlingly, the rules do not require the attendance of the party being represented at any hearing where representation is provided by a non-authorised-person, even though that representative will not necessarily be subject to the Codes of Conduct which govern barristers and solicitors, or any other code or scheme aimed at maintaining professional standards in court or in the conduct of proceedings leading up to a hearing.