Your hearing

You have choices as to how you want your appeal to proceed. There are alternatives. 

Firstly oral hearings - 

An oral hearing would involve you and your client/representative talking to a tribunal. The tribunal will consist of a Convener, who is a lawyer, a medical member and a disability qualified member. The tribunal will enable you to discuss your grounds of appeal. 

There are three types of oral hearing available to you to take part in: 

• A teleconference hearing would involve you speaking to the tribunal on the telephone.
• A videoconference hearing would involve you speaking to the tribunal on a video call.
• An in-person hearing would involve you speaking to the tribunal at one of our hearing venues. There are venues throughout Scotland. 

You are entitled to be represented at all these types of hearings, and to be accompanied by relatives or friends for support. Representation can be provided by welfare rights organisations such as Citizens Advice Bureau and local authority advice centres. A representative from Social Security Scotland may also attend an oral hearing. 

Secondly a determination based on the papers –

If you would prefer not to take part in an oral hearing, the appeal can be decided as determination on the papers. This means the tribunal will look at the documents that have been lodged by you/your representative and Social Security Scotland and make a decision based on those.

You should submit any evidence you have before the oral hearing takes place and you can do that by using the postal address here or by emailing copies to sscadmin@scotcourtstribunals.gov.uk.

This mailbox has an automated response and we cannot respond to requests for advice or general enquiries.

What happens at a hearing?

Adult Disability Payment appeals and Child Disability Payment appeals will be heard by three members of the chamber; a legally qualified member who is the Convener, a medically qualified member and a disability qualified member.

If you are attending an in-person oral hearing we will try to arrange the hearing at a location convenient to the person who is appealing the decision.

You can bring someone to support you, such as a family member or friend, and/or have a representative at the hearing. More information about this is available at Support and Assistance.

If you participate in the oral hearing and we encourage you to do so:

The hearing will not be very formal. The tribunal is not a court.

You will have the opportunity to explain the reasons for your appeal. You will be asked questions about your appeal by the tribunal members.

We will record the hearing but the recording is only for the use of the tribunal.

Social Security Scotland may also be at the hearing. They may also ask you questions. They are not part of the tribunal and have no input into the final decision which is for the tribunal members alone.

The outcome decision may be given to you at the time or more likely sent out after the hearing.

The Social Security Chamber is independent and impartial.

If you require support, for example, an interpreter or use of a hearing loop you should request this when you make an appeal. The hearing may be delayed otherwise. 

Taking oral evidence from persons located overseas in tribunal proceedings

As users of The First-tier Tribunal for Scotland, Upper Tribunal for Scotland, The Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland, The Pensions Appeals Tribunal and The Lands Tribunal for Scotland will be aware, SCTS makes the following request of parties who wish to lead oral evidence from witnesses located outside of the UK in tribunal proceedings. It is helpful if parties contact the tribunal to make staff aware of their intention to lead such evidence. It is also helpful if parties confirm whether the proposed witness is a citizen or a resident in that country or not, so that the tribunal is made aware of the reason for the request that oral evidence is given from that country.

In the case of Secretary of State for the Home Department v Agbabiaka [2021] UKUT 00286, the UK Upper Tribunal held that parties to proceedings before the First-tier Tribunal who seek to lead oral evidence from witnesses located overseas were to ascertain whether the government of that foreign state had any objection and if there were any legal objections to the giving of evidence from its territory by making enquiries with the ‘Taking of Evidence Unit’ of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (“FCDO”).

The FCDO has put in place a process whereby it facilitates tribunals based in the UK seeking approval from other jurisdictions for evidence to be taken remotely from those jurisdictions.

A number of signatory states to the Hague Convention of 18 March 1970 on Taking of Evidence Abroad in Civil or Commercial Matters consider that it applies to requests for taking of evidence by video link by foreign courts and expects letters of request to be submitted, rather than the FCDO process being followed.

The approach currently recommended to the judiciary in these tribunals is that, where it is proposed that a witness located overseas is to give evidence remotely, it will only seek permission from the jurisdiction in which that witness is located if the witness does not agree to give evidence.