THE LANDS TRIBUNAL:
Functions & Procedures
The following description is reproduced (with kind permission) from Brice Dickson's handbook "The Legal System in Northern Ireland" (2005)
The Lands Tribunal for Northern Ireland was set up by the Lands Tribunal and Compensation Act (NI) 1964. It is technically not a tribunal at all but a proper
court, although it is not always presided over by a judge and it is not serviced by the Northern Ireland Court Service. Persons serving on it are barristers or solicitors of seven years' standing or persons experienced in
the valuation of land. They are assisted by a registrar (currently Mr Gary Shaw) and a small clerical staff. There are at present only two members; one of these is a High Court Judge and serves as part-time
President of the Tribunal (Mr Justice Coghlin), the other is a chartered surveyor and serves in a full-time capacity (Mr Michael Curry).
The functions of the Lands Tribunal are varied. One of its most important is to resolve disputes over the amount of compensation to be paid for the
compulsory acquisition of land or for the injury caused to land by, for instance, the making of roads. Another important function is the hearing of appeals and references concerning the valuation of land for rate relief
purposes, a job which frequently entails deciding whether a particular organisation is or is not a charity (it is in this context that such decisions are usually made in Northern Ireland, where there is no public register of
charities). The Tribunal must also deal with the renewal of business tenancies, consent for alterations to land, assignments and agreements to surrender, and the modification of legal obligations which are allegedly
impeding the enjoyment of land, such as rights of way. Parties can, moreover, agree to ask the Lands Tribunal to sit in private as an arbitrating body to settle disputes concerning the value, use or development of a piece
of land (e.g. in the context of a rent review dispute). In all cases there is no limit to the value of land which may be at issue, in contrast, say, with the jurisdiction of the county court in land matters
(see Chap. 6.4).
The rules of procedure for the Tribunal are laid down in the Lands Tribunal Rules (NI) 1976, as amended, but in most cases the parties themselves are invited to agree a timetable for the handling of their dispute. Prior to any hearing the parties usually provide each other with all the facts upon which they intend to rely and the experts involved exchange their reports showing how they arrived at their conclusions. Such an open approach is intended to encourage the parties to arrive at a settlement of the dispute prior to the hearing itself. Indeed the Lands Tribunal does not regard its role as confined to processing the cases according to law, it actively encourages flexible prevention and resolution of disputes. The Registrar will advise practitioners on the procedures normally adopted. The forms most frequently used in Lands Tribunal work can be downloaded from the Tribunal's website.
The Lands Tribunal has its own courtroom and offices in the Royal Courts of Justice in Belfast, but it will also sit in a courthouse convenient to the
location of the land concerned whenever the parties prefer such a venue for the hearing.
Usually the surveyor member of the Tribunal will hear the case, with the President joining him if the case involves particularly sensitive or complex issues. The President has a casting vote if the two members disagree. Members of the public can attend hearings and legal aid is available for some types of cases. The parties may represent themselves or employ a solicitor, a barrister or (in suitable cases, and only with the Tribunal's permission) a valuer.
Decisions are usually given in writing, and must contain reasons. They are final as regards the determination of facts, but they can be appealed to
the Court of Appeal within a week on a point of law by way of case stated. As the Tribunal is a court, an award of costs usually follows the event.
Apart from arbitration awards, all written decisions of the Lands Tribunal are published and can be treated as precedents. Summaries appear in the Bulletin of Northern Ireland Law and the most important cases are reported in the Estates Gazette or the Rating
and Valuation Reporter, which are English journals. A Table of Cases from 1990 (plus a few earlier ones) is on the Tribunal's website.
All recent decisions as well as most of the important earlier cases are available on the Lexis database (see Chap. 2.3) or from the Registrar, by email, free of charge.
In 2004 the Lands Tribunal dealt with about 200 cases.
Some 160 of these were settled before a hearing date was fixed and about five were settled at or during the hearing. Summary decisions (i.e. decisions given there and then) were delivered in about 20 cases and in another 12 or so the decision was given after a delay. About 150 of the cases that year concerned commercial tenancies, and about 10 cases concerned valuation of land for rating purposes. The volume of rating cases is cyclical - it follows the five-yearly pattern of general commercial revaluations. Current proposals for reform of the water rates and domestic rating systems in Northern Ireland may lead to a temporary surge in cases over the next few years.
Reference:
Dickson, Brice (2005) "The Legal System in Northern Ireland" (Fifth Edition). Belfast: SLS Legal Publications (NI)