Member

The amendments which the Government wish your Lordships to note could interfere with the individual’s right to a fair hearing under Article 6 are Amendments 430 and 431, in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Sandhurst. These would introduce a new triage process, enabling the commissioner to allocate a case to be decided at first instance either by them or by panel members, but in doing so they introduce a disparity in the review process, allowing those whose case has been considered by panel members to access the simple review process provided by the commissioner, in accordance with Clause 18, while those whose cases the commissioner had considered at first instance could be reviewed only by the more complex—and expensive—process of judicial review.