International Protection Act 2015

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Functions of chairperson of Tribunal

63. (1) The chairperson shall ensure that the functions of the Tribunal are performed efficiently and that the business assigned to each member is disposed of as expeditiously as may be consistent with fairness and natural justice.

(2) The chairperson may issue to the members of the Tribunal guidelines on the practical application and operation of the provisions or any particular provisions of this Part and on developments in the law relating to international protection.

(3) (a) The chairperson may, if he or she considers it appropriate to do so in the interest of the fair and efficient performance of the functions of the Tribunal, issue guidelines to the Registrar for the purpose of the performance of his or her functions of assigning or re-assigning appeals under section 67 (2) or (3).

(b) In issuing the guidelines referred to in paragraph (a), the chairperson shall have regard to the following matters:

(i) the grounds of the appeals specified in the notices of appeal;

(ii) the country of origin of applicants;

(iii) any family relationship between applicants;

(iv) the ages of the applicants and, in particular, of persons under the age of 18 years in respect of whom applications are made;

(v) the provisions of this Act under which the appeals are made.

(4) The chairperson may —

(a) re-assign business from one member to a different member if, in the opinion of the chairperson, such re-assignment—

(i) is warranted by the inability or unwillingness to transact that business of the member to whom the business was originally assigned, and

(ii) where the business relates to an appeal, cannot be achieved by agreement between the Registrar and that member,

(b) require a member to prepare a report of his or her determination of each appeal within a period specified in the guidelines referred to at subsection (2), and

(c) require a member to prepare a report on any aspect of the transaction of the business assigned to the member.

(5) The chairperson—

(a) may accord priority to an appeal when he or she is of the opinion that it is in the interests of justice to do so, and

(b) shall accord priority to an appeal that is the subject of a request under section 73 (1)(b).

(6) The chairperson may from time to time convene a meeting with a member or members of the Tribunal for the purpose of discussing matters relating to the transaction of the business assigned to the member or members, including, in particular, such matters as the avoidance of undue divergences in the transaction of business by the members.

(7) The chairperson shall convene a meeting of the members at least once a year to review the transaction of business by members and, where necessary, to make provision for training programmes for members.

(8) The chairperson shall make the following written reports on the activities of the Tribunal:

(a) a report to the Minister in relation to any function that the chairperson performs under this Act, if requested to do so by the Minister or if the chairperson considers it appropriate to do so;

(b) an annual report to the Minister not later than 3 months after the end of each year, which the Minister shall cause to be laid before each House of the Oireachtas not more than 30 days after he or she receives it.

(9) Where a member of the Tribunal fails to comply with a provision of section 65 , the chairperson may make a written report to the Minister of this failure.

(10) In this section and section 65 , “business” means the determination of appeals and any additional tasks assigned to a member by the chairperson in order to fulfil any other functions conferred on the Tribunal by or under this Act and the Dublin System Regulations.