46. The Chairman or the Tribunal may at any time reconsider any direction and may revoke, amend or replace the direction.
47.—(1) Any irregularity resulting from a failure to comply with any provisions of these Rules or any direction of the Tribunal or of the Chairman before the Tribunal has reached its decision does not of itself render the proceedings invalid.
(2) Where any such irregularity comes to the attention of the Tribunal, the Tribunal or the Chairman as appropriate may give any directions it thinks just, before reaching its decision, to cure or waive the irregularity.
(3) Clerical mistakes in any document recording a direction or decision of the Tribunal or the Chairman, or errors arising in such a document from an accidental slip or omission, may be corrected by the Chairman by certificate in writing.
48.—(1) Any document purporting to be a document signed or issued by the Secretary on behalf of the Tribunal is, unless the contrary is proved, deemed to be a document so executed or issued as the case may be.
(2) A document purporting to be certified by the Secretary to be a true copy of a decision of the Tribunal or of any entry of a decision in the register is, unless the contrary is proved, sufficient evidence of the decision of the Tribunal or the entry and of matters contained in it.
49.—(1) Any document required or authorised by these Rules to be delivered to any person, body or authority is duly delivered to that person, body or authority—
(a) if it is sent to the proper address of that person, body or authority by post, by special delivery, by recorded delivery or otherwise with proof of posting;
(b) if it is sent to that person, body or authority at that address by fax or other means of electronic communication which produces a text which is received in legible form; or
(c) if it is delivered to or left at the proper address of that person, body or authority,
provided that it will only duly be delivered by fax or other means of electronic communication if the recipient consents in writing to the use of that means.
(2) For the purposes of the proviso in paragraph (1), a legal representative is deemed to consent in writing if the reference or address for the means of electronic communication is shown as an acceptable means of delivery on the legal representative’s notepaper.
(3) Where a document has been sent in accordance with paragraph (1) it shall, unless the contrary is proved, be taken to have been received by the party to whom it is addressed—
(a) in the case of a document sent by post, on the day on which the document would be delivered in the ordinary course of post;
(b) in the case of a document transmitted by fax or other means of electronic communication, on the day on which the document is transmitted; or
(c) in the case of a notice or document delivered in person, on the day on which the document is delivered.
(4) Any document required or authorised to be delivered may—
(a) in the case of a company or other body incorporated or registered in the United Kingdom, be delivered to the secretary or clerk of the company or body;
(b) in the case of a company or other body incorporated outside the United Kingdom, be delivered to the person authorised to accept it;
(c) in the case of a partnership, be delivered to any partner; or
(d) in the case of an unincorporated association other than a partnership, be delivered to any member of the governing body of the association.
(5) The proper address of any person, body or authority to whom any document is required or authorised to be delivered is—
(a) in the case of a secretary or clerk of an incorporated company or other body registered in the United Kingdom, that of the registered or principal office of the company or body;
(b) in the case of the person authorised to accept it on behalf of a company or other body incorporated outside the United Kingdom, the address of the principal office or place of business of that company or other body in the United Kingdom;
(c) in the case of the Tribunal or the Secretary, the address of the office of the Tribunal;
(d) in the case of any other person, the usual or last known address of that person.
(6) Where any document is to be delivered to a diocesan board of finance as having an interest in land, a copy must also be delivered to the Church Commissioners.
50. If any person to whom any document is required to be delivered for the purposes of these Rules—
(a) cannot be found or has died and has no known personal representative; or
(b) is out of the United Kingdom,
or if for any other reason delivery to that person cannot be readily effected, the Chairman may dispense with the delivery to that person or may give a direction for substituted delivery to another person or in any other form (whether by advertisement in a newspaper or otherwise) which the Chairman may think fit and may make such consequential directions as he considers appropriate.
51.—(1) The Chairman may extend any time limit under these Rules or in any direction whether or not it has already expired, where he considers that it would not be reasonable to expect or have expected compliance with the time limit and he may shorten any time limit where he considers that it would be reasonable to expect compliance within a shorter time limit.
(2) Before deciding whether to extend or shorten the time limit the Chairman must give persons whose interests might be affected an opportunity to be heard or to make objections in writing and responses must be made within five days or such period as the Chairman considers appropriate.
(3) Unless the Chairman otherwise directs, a time limit may be varied once by the written agreement of all parties provided that the Secretary is notified in writing of the agreement before the original time limit expires.
(4) Unless the Chairman otherwise directs, a variation of a time limit under paragraph (3) must end not more than 28 days after the original time limit and end no less than seven days before a hearing.
(5) Any application for an extension or shortening of time must be in writing, stating reasons for the delay and enclosing copies for all other parties.
(This note is not part of the Order)
This Order sets out the Rules that apply to Agricultural Land Tribunals. It revokes the Agricultural Land Tribunals (Rules) Order 1978 and the Agricultural Land Tribunals (Succession to Agricultural Tenancies) Order 1984.
Article 2 and the Schedule set out the Rules that apply to proceedings before an Agricultural Land Tribunal.
Article 3 makes transitional provision in relation to proceedings which were commenced prior to the commencement of this Order.
Part 2 of the Rules deals with applications and replies, including making an application to the Tribunal (rule 2) and action by a respondent upon receipt of an application (rule 4).
Part 3 of the Rules sets out preliminary procedures, including applications by interested parties to join proceedings (rule 9), case management meetings (rule 12), determination of preliminary issues (rule 13), directions (rules 11, 14 and 15), fixing a hearing (rule 16), consolidation of applications (rule 18) and power to decide an application without a hearing in certain circumstances (rule 19).
Part 4 of the Rules deals with hearings and decisions and includes provision for hearings to be in public (rule 21), the procedures at a hearing (rule 23), evidence of witnesses (rule 24), inspections (rules 25 and 26), expert evidence (rules 27 to 29) and decisions of the Tribunal (rules 30 and 32).
Additional powers of and provisions relating to the Tribunal are provided in Part 5 of the Rules, including power to regulate procedure (rule 33), power to strike out (rule 34) and references to the High Court on questions of law (rules 37 and 38).
Part 6 of the Rules deals with specific applications to the Agricultural Land Tribunal such as those dealing with succession on death or retirement of a tenant of an agricultural holding (rule 40) and drainage cases (rule 45).
Part 7 of the Rules provides supplemental provisions such as delivering and receipt of documents (rule 49) and variation of time limits (rule 51).
A regulatory impact assessment of the effect that this instrument will have on the costs of business and the voluntary sector is available from Gangmasters, Employment and Tenancies Team, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Area 7E, 9 Millbank, Smith Square, London, SW1P 3JR and is annexed to the Explanatory Memorandum which is available alongside the instrument on the Office of Public Sector Information website.