S.I. No. 24/1968 - Redundancy (Redundancy Appeals Tribunal) Regulations, 1968.

S.I. No. 24 of 1968.

REDUNDANCY (REDUNDANCY APPEALS TRIBUNAL) REGULATIONS, 1968.

I, P. S. Ó h-IRIGHILE, Minister for Labour, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 39 (19) of the Redundancy Payments Act, 1967 (No. 21 of 1967), hereby make the following Regulations:

General.

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Redundancy (Redundancy Appeals Tribunal) Regulations, 1968.

2. In these Regulations—

"the Act" means the Redundancy Payments Act, 1967 (No. 21 of 1967);

"the Minister" means the Minister for Labour;

"notice of appeal" means the notice of appeal required by paragraph 3;

"the Tribunal" means the Redundancy Appeals Tribunal.

Originating Application.

3. Where a person (in these Regulations referred to as the appellant) desires to have a question referred under section 39 (15) of the Act to the Tribunal for decision, he shall give written notice of appeal to the Minister.

4. The notice of appeal shall be given on the form provided by the Minister for the purpose and shall be accompanied by a statement of the facts and contentions on which the appellant intends to rely.

Time Limit for and Withdrawal of Appeals.

5. No appeal shall be entertained by the Tribunal unless the appropriate notice of appeal has been submitted to the Minister within 21 days after the receipt by the appellant of the decision which constitutes the subject of the appeal; provided that notice of appeal given after that period may, with the consent of the Minister, be accepted.

6. An appellant may withdraw an appeal to the Tribunal by sending notice of withdrawal to the Minister.

Forwarding of Appeals.

7. (1) In the case of an appeal against a decision of a deciding officer and in the case of an employer who is appealing against a decision given by the Minister in relation to a rebate, the Minister shall, as soon as may be after receipt of the notice of appeal, cause to be furnished to the Secretary of the Tribunal the notice of appeal together with a counter-statement given by or on behalf of the deciding officer or the Minister (as the case may be) showing to what extent the facts and contentions advanced by the appellant are admitted or disputed.

(2) On receipt of the notice of appeal and the counter-statement, the Secretary of the Tribunal shall forward a copy of the counter-statement to the appellant.

8. (1) In the case of an employee who is appealing against a decision given by an employer under the Act, the Minister shall cause the notice of appeal to be forwarded to the Secretary of the Tribunal.

(2) On receipt of the notice of appeal the Secretary of the Tribunal shall forward to the employer concerned (in these Regulations referred to as the respondent) a copy of the statement by the appellant required under paragraph 4.

Appearance by Respondent.

9. (1) A respondent shall within 14 days of receiving a copy of the appropriate notice of appeal enter an appearance to the proceedings by sending to the Secretary of the Tribunal a statement (on the form provided by the Minister for the purpose) indicating whether he intends to contest the appeal and, if so, to what extent the facts and contentions advanced by the appellant are admitted or disputed.

(2) Subject to subparagraph (3), a respondent who has not submitted a notice of appearance as required by subparagraph (1) shall not be entitled to take any part in the appeal proceedings or to be represented thereat.

(3) A respondent may apply within the 14-day-period mentioned in subparagraph (1) for an extension of the time in which to enter an appearance.

(4) When the Secretary of the Tribunal receives a notice of appearance from the respondent, he shall forthwith send a copy thereof to the appellant.

Hearings by the Tribunal.

10. The chairman of the Tribunal shall from time to time fix dates, times and places for the hearing of appeals by the Tribunal and notice thereof shall be given by the Secretary to the Tribunal to all persons appearing to the chairman to be concerned.

11. The hearing of an appeal by the Tribunal shall take place in public unless the Tribunal decides at the request of either party to the appeal to hear the appeal in private.

12. Parties summoned to attend a hearing of the Tribunal may appear and be heard in person or may be represented by counsel or solicitor or by a representative of a trade union or of an employers' association or, with the leave of the Tribunal, by any other person.

Procedure at Hearings.

13. A party to an appeal heard by the Tribunal may—

( a ) make an opening statement,

( b ) call witnesses,

( c ) cross-examine any witnesses called by any other party,

( d ) give evidence on his own behalf, and

( e ) address the Tribunal at the close of the evidence.

14. The Tribunal may postpone or adjourn the hearing of an appeal from time to time.

15. The Tribunal may admit any duly authenticated written statement as prima facie evidence of any fact whenever it thinks it just and proper so to do.

16. If, after notice of a hearing has been duly given, any of the parties fails to appear at the hearing, the Tribunal may determine the question under appeal or may adjourn the hearing to a later date: provided that before determining the question under appeal the Tribunal shall consider all the evidence before it at the time of the hearing.

17. (1) A decision of the Tribunal may be taken by a majority of the members thereof.

(2) A decision of the Tribunal shall be recorded in a document signed by the chairman and sealed with the seal of the Tribunal.

(3) A decision of the Tribunal shall be entered in a Register of Appeals and a copy of the decision shall be sent to the appellant and to any other person concerned.

(4) The Register of Appeals shall be open to inspection by any person without charge during normal business hours.

(5) The chairman of the Tribunal may by certificate under his hand correct any clerical mistake, error or omission in a decision of the Tribunal, and the correction shall be duly entered in the Register of Appeals and a copy of the corrected decision shall be sent to the appellant and to any other person concerned.

Notices.

18. (1) Any notice required by these Regulations shall be in writing, and all notices and documents required or authorised by these Regulations to be sent or given to any person may be deemed to be duly sent if sent by registered post and directed—

(i) in the case of the Minister, to the head office of the Department of Labour,

(ii) in the case of the Secretary of the Appeals Tribunal, to the office of the Secretary,

(iii) in the case of an appellant, to the address given by him in the notice of appeal,

(iv) in the case of any other person, to his usual or last-known address or his place of business,

(v) in the case of a body corporate, to its registered office.

(2) A notice or document if sent or given to the authorised representative of a person shall be deemed to have been sent or given to that person.

(3) A party to an appeal may at any time by notice to the Tribunal and to any other party or parties concerned in the appeal change his address for service under these Regulations.

Costs and Expenses.

19. (1) Subject to subparagraph (2), the Tribunal shall not award costs against any party to an appeal.

(2) Where in the opinion of the Tribunal a party to the proceedings (and, if he is a respondent, whether or not he has entered an appearance) has acted frivolously or vexatiously, the Tribunal may make an order that that party shall pay to another party a specified amount in respect of travelling expenses and any other costs or expenses reasonably incurred by that other party in connection with the hearing.

(3) Notwithstanding subparagraph (2), costs shall not be awarded in respect of the costs or expenses in respect of the attendance of counsel, solicitors, officials of a trade union or of an employers' association appearing before the Tribunal in a representative capacity.

(4) Where the Tribunal has made an order under subparagraph (2), the amount referred to in the order shall be recoverable as a simple contract debt.

20. (1) The Tribunal may award to a person appearing before it a sum in respect of travelling expenses and subsistence allowances in accordance with such scale as the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, may from time to time determine.

(2) A sum awarded under subparagraph (1) shall be paid out of the Redundancy Fund.

Miscellaneous.

21. (1) The Tribunal shall have an official seal which shall be judicially noticed.

(2) When affixed to any document the official seal of the Tribunal shall be authenticated by the signature of the chairman or vice-chairman of the Tribunal or by the secretary or such officer of the Tribunal as is authorised for that purpose by the chairman.

(3) Every document issued by the Tribunal and sealed with the official seal of the Tribunal shall be received in evidence without further proof.

22. (1) Where the Minister would not otherwise be a party to any proceedings before the Tribunal, he may request the Tribunal to treat him as a party to the proceedings and, where the Minister makes such a request, he shall be treated as such a party and be entitled to appear and be heard accordingly.

(2) Where under subparagraph (1) the Minister is treated as a party to proceedings, he may for the purposes of appearing or being heard before the Tribunal be represented by a person appointed by him.

23. The Tribunal may consider and decide any question duly referred to it for consideration and determination, notwithstanding the failure or neglect of any person to comply with any requirement of these Regulations.

24. The Tribunal may require any party to an appeal to furnish in writing further particulars with regard to the facts and contentions contained in either the notice of appeal or the notice of appearance and when the required particulars have been received by the Secretary of the Tribunal he shall furnish the other party to the appeal with a copy of the particulars provided.

25. A reference by a deciding officer to the Tribunal under section 39 (16) of the Act shall be made on the form provided by the Minister for that purpose.

GIVEN under my Official Seal, this 29th day of January, 1968.

P. S. Ó h-IRIGHILE,

Minister for Labour.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

These Regulations prescribe the procedure to be followed in relation to the submission and hearing of appeals against decisions given under the Redundancy Payments Act, 1967 . They also provide for matters incidental to the hearing of appeals, including notifications of decisions, the keeping of a Register of Appeals, the use of an official seal and the awarding of costs and expenses.