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Frequently asked questions - benefits law and appeals 
If there is a question that you have been puzzling over why not suggest a faq.
Q1. What are acts of parliament?
Q2. How are acts of parliament passed?
Q4. What are commissioners decisions?
Q5. Where can I get hold of commissioners decisions?
Q7. Where can I get hold of case law?
Q8. What is the human rights act (HRA)?
Q10. Where can I find out about tribunal reform?
Q11. What does the numbering of commissioners decisions mean?
Acts of parliament contain the basic rules for benefit (and tax credits or community care) administration. They are made by Parliament and can usually be changed only by another Act of Parliament.
Acts of parliament are also known as statutes. Before an act is passed it is known as a bill.
For information about how acts of parliament are passed see our factsheet F16 - The Stages of a Parliamentary Bill.
Regulations give the fine detail that determines procedure for the rules as laid down in acts of parliament for benefits, tax credits or community care. They are also known as statutory instruments (SIs).
Generally, regulations are not scrutinised by parliament in depth. They can be amended at any time using other SIs. Usually, proposed changes to regulations are submitted to the Social Security Advisory Committee (SSAC) for consultation and comment before their introduction.
A regulation can only be made where an act of parliament gives the Secretary of State, in the case of benefit regulations or the Board of the Inland Revenue, in the case of tax credits, the explicit power to do so.
Commissioner’s decisions are case law. They are decisions made on a point of law made by a commissioner or a tribunal of three commissioners following an appeal against a decision of an appeal tribunal.
When a commissioner's decision is first made it is called an unreported decision. Commissioners select what they consider to be important decisions and publish them on the social security and child support commissioners website. Before the system of selecting decisions was introduced certain decisions were "starred". The system of starring has been discontinued
A certain number of decisions are selected to be reported because they contain an issue of particular importance. Many of these will be old starred or selected decisions.
Commissioners decisions further clarify or interpret the meaning of the acts or regulations. A decision of a tribunal of three commissioners should be followed in preference to a single commissioner. A reported decision may also be given more weight than an unreported one.
Decision makers must choose between conflicting decisions, by single commissioners. There is no obligation on them to prefer the earlier to the later or vice versa. Starred and selected decisions have no special significance compared to other decisions (in fact you can request that a decision be selected).
Decisions made in Scotland have the same weight as those made in England and Wales.
Northern Ireland decisions do not set precedent in Great Britain but may be "persuasive case law".
Commissioners are bound by the decisions of higher courts.
If you refer to an unreported decision in support of your appeal you should send the tribunal a copy at least 14 days in advance of the appeal. If a copy is not sent in advance, the tribunal may adjourn.
You can find out how to get hold of commissioners decisions from our fact sheet F19 - Finding the Law.
You can download summaries of commissioner’s decisions at www.disabilityalliance.org/digest.htm.
Case law is the term applied to the decisions of commissioners and the various law courts, including those of the court of appeal, high court, court of session, law lords and the European court.
You can find out how to get hold of case law from our fact sheet F19 - Finding the Law.
Summaries of individual court cases are also available at www.disabilityalliance.org/caselaw.htm.
The Human Rights Act (HRA), is a means of making a complaint against a public authority where you feel they have offended your rights under the 1950 European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR). You can find out more about the Human Rights Act from our Factsheet F1 - human rights act .
The bench book is an A to Z Guide to procedure for (Appeals Service) tribunal chairmen and members, giving guidance on how to deal with the day-to-day issues and problems that may arise when hearing appeals. It is not legally binding but should be followed by tribunals.
Among the subjects covered are the procedures for adjournments and deciding whether a domiciliary hearing should take place.
It is intended that most existing tribunals will be unified under a single tribunal service agency with a simplified structure of two tiers.
The first tier will hear appeals to tribunals and the upper tier will hear appeals from the lower tier to what are currently commissioners. Normally, if required, appeals will progress from the first to the upper tier though there will be some variation for certain tribunals.
There will also be a right of appeal from the upper tier via a statutory review by a single Court of Appeal judge though leave to appeal will only be granted if it is an issue of public importance.
For more information on this see our appeal tribunal reform page.
When a commissioner's decision is first made it is called an unreported decision. Unreported decisions have a special numbering. For example CM/60/86 stands for the following:
From 1982, unreported decisions of more general significance were given a star * after the number. To confuse matters they were also given a separate "star number" for the year in which they were starred e.g. 157/01.
The system of starring has now been discontinued. Commissioners now select what they consider to be important decisions and publish them on the social security and child support commissioners website.
Scottish decisions are identified with an S, for example CSDLA/121/97.
Some unreported decisions are selected to be reported because they contain an issue of particular importance. Many of these will be old starred or selected decisions. Reported decisions also have their own numbering system. For example R(M)2/78 stands for:
Until recently decisions made by a Tribunal of Commissioners, rather than by a single Commissioner; would have the suffix (T) at the end e.g. R(M)3/86(T).
Until 1.2.50 reported decisions were referred to in the same way as unreported decisions e.g. CS/371/1949(KL) - the KL standing for "key law".
The main series initials for disability benefits are
