Rule 55: the Tribunal Procedure (First-tier Tribunal) (Property Chamber) Rules 2013/1169: Review of a decision

(1) The Tribunal may only undertake a review of a decision—

(a) pursuant to rule 53 (review on an application for permission to appeal); and

(b) if it is satisfied that a ground of appeal is likely to be successful.

(2) The Tribunal must notify the parties in writing of the outcome of any review, and of any right of appeal in relation to the outcome.

(3) If the Tribunal takes any action in relation to a decision following a review without first giving every party an opportunity to make representations, the notice under paragraph (2) must state that any party that did not have an opportunity to make representations may apply for such action to be set aside and for the decision to be reviewed again.

Here is the mechanism by which the Tribunal will control the number of reviews it undertakes.

A party cannot apply specifically for a review. A review is only carried out on the back of an application for permission to appeal and only then if the Tribunal is satisfied that the ground of appeal is likely to be successful. The grounds on which a party may appeal a Tribunal decision are here; the meaning and powers of the Tribunal in carrying out a review appear here.

As I read this rule, I do not think that the Tribunal can change the outcome of a case on a review: section 9(4) Tribunals Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 allows the Tribunal to correct accidental omissions and to amend its reasons, but it does not allow the Tribunal to amend its decision. Therefore, it seems to me:

• If the Tribunal decides that it has reached the correct decision, but that the document containing its decision is defective, it can either correct the defect, or it can amend its reasons;
• If, conversely, it reviews its decision and decides that it has made a faux pas, the result of which is that the decision is wrong, it must set the decision aside and either re-decide it or refer it to the Upper Tribunal.

I have the feeling that by the time the Tribunal Rules Committee reached this rule, it was able, in its sleep, to include subrules requiring the Tribunal to give notice of its decisions to all parties. Subrule 2 here performs that function.

Finally, subrule 3 ensures that all parties have the opportunity to contribute to the review if the Tribunal intends to operate on its decision. Those contributions may not be very contentious where the correction of an accidental slip, such as a name or a date, is concerned, but where the Tribunal either intends to amend its reasons or indeed set the decision aside, the position may be very different.