It is clear that the measures required to manage the COVID 19 outbreak will have an enormous impact on our ability to administer justice through the tribunals system and significant changes to the way we work and the business we plan for are necessary.
Accordingly, the Housing and Property Chamber has moved to postpone scheduled hearings and case management discussions (CMDs) from 18 March 2020 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The hearings and CMDs scheduled for 18 March will take place and we are in the process of postponing and adjourning all other scheduled CMDs and hearings starting from 19 March. If you have an ongoing case, you will be contacted in due course with this information. We will contact parties in order of hearing date so please bear with us during this process.
As part of the measures required to manage the COVID-19 outbreak and to keep parties, tribunal participants, Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service staff and tribunal members safe, the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (“the Tribunal”), in exercise of its discretion and on its own initiative in terms of Rule 28(1) of the Chamber Procedural Rules, has ordered a postponement (or adjournment in appropriate cases where the hearing has started) of all case management discussions/hearings to 28 May 2020 at 10am at Glasgow Tribunal Centre, 20 York Street, Glasgow.
With the current uncertainty of the duration of the COVID 19 outbreak and uncertainty surrounding the requirements for ongoing measures, it is impossible to accurately specify the date, time and place of any postponed case management discussion or hearing when the case will be heard by tribunal members.
Please note that a universal date for the postponement of all case management discussions and hearings of the Chamber has been set of 28 May 2020 at 10am at Glasgow Tribunals Centre. Parties should note that this is merely a date set to comply with legislation and further details of the actual date when any case will be heard will be notified to parties when the situation is more certain. Parties should not attend the Tribunal on 28 May 2020 and will receive further details before that date.
The Tribunal regrets that such an action requires to be taken and appreciates that it will add to the concerns of parties at this challenging time. We thank you for your patience and understanding during this unprecedented situation. It is our hope that rescheduled case management discussions and hearings will be able to be fixed from 28 May onwards but as you will appreciate this is dependent on matters out with our control.