91447 - Registrar / Lawyer, Upper Tribunal (Administrative Appeals Chamber)

His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) is responsible for the administration of the criminal, civil and family courts and tribunals in England and Wales and non-devolved tribunals in Scotland and Northern Ireland. It provides a fair, efficient and effective justice system delivered by an independent judiciary. HMCTS aims to ensure that all citizens receive timely access to justice according to their different needs, whether as victims or witnesses of crime, defendants accused of crime, consumers in debt, children at risk of harm, businesses involved in commercial disputes or as individuals asserting their employment rights or challenging the decisions of government bodies.

Consequently, there are high expectations of all staff regardless of the job they do, and high performance is expected from everybody. The organisation is continuously adopting new or better ways of working to ensure that it focuses on just that which is essential. HMCTS Senior Management Team expects all leaders to operate in a culture of openness and honesty, demonstrating a commitment to change through involvement and empowerment, and by delivering results.

Introduction

The RCJ legal operations group includes all the lawyers working in the offices which support the Upper Tribunal, Employment Appeal Tribunal, High Court and Court of Appeal (criminal and civil divisions).

The Upper Tribunal (Administrative Appeals Chamber) ("UTAAC") exercises a largely error of law jurisdiction deciding appeals from a range of First-tier Tribunals. The majority of UTAAC's workload consists of appeals relating to social security benefits but it also considers appeals in other subject areas including child support, mental health, information rights, special educational needs, and transport licensing. UTAAC also exercises a judicial review jurisdiction.

A team of lawyers, known as Registrars, work with the Judges and administrative staff to deal with this work. The key purpose of the role of the Registrar is to support the judges of UTAAC in the efficient, just and expeditious disposal of cases. There are seven Registrars who support the work of UTAAC in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, six based in London (including the Senior Registrar) and one in Belfast. The UTAAC Registrar team also provides support to the EAT Registrar and Upper Tribunal (Lands) Registrar as required.