Offences and penalties

(1) Any person who, having been summoned to attend proceedings for the purpose of giving evidence and to produce documents in accordance with these Regulations, (a) refuses or omits, without sufficient cause, to attend on the date, at the time and the place specified in the summons served on him, or (b) refuses or fails without sufficient cause to answer, or to answer fully and satisfactorily, to the best of his knowledge and belief, all questions put to him by or with the 190 Social Security concurrence of the Chairman or person so authorised under these Regulations, or (c) refuses or omits without sufficient cause to produce books or documents mentioned or referred to in the summons served on him, which are in his possession or under his control, shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars: Provided that no person giving evidence under these Regulations shall be compelled to incriminate himself and every such person shall, in respect of any evidence given or document produced by him, be entitled to all the privileges to which a witness giving evidence or producing any document before the Supreme Court is entitled in respect of evidence given or document produced before that Court. Social Security 191 FIRST SCHEDULE [Regulation 9] CONSTITUTION OF APPEAL TRIBUNAL 1. An appeal tribunal shall consist of– (a) a Chairman who shall be an attorney-at–law of at least three years standing; (b) a person drawn by the Board from a panel of persons representing employers; (c) a person drawn by the Board from a panel of persons representing insured persons. 2. The Chairman of an appeal tribunal shall be appointed by the Minister for a period not exceeding two years and shall hold and vacate office in accordance with the terms of his letter of appointment. 3. The Minister, in consultation with the Board, may appoint more than one person to perform the functions of Chairman of appeal tribunals and may designate districts or areas in which each Chairman is to perform his functions. 4. The panels of persons representing employers and insured persons, respectively shall be appointed by the Board after consulting organizations who in the opinion of the Board represent employers and insured persons, respectively. 5. A person shall be appointed to a panel mentioned in paragraph 4 for a period not exceeding two years, and shall hold and vacate office in accordance with the terms of his appointment. 192 Social Security 6. The Chairman of an appeal tribunal and members of the panels shall be eligible for re-appointment on completion of their current term of office. 7. No member of the Board shall be eligible for appointment as a Chairman of an appeal tribunal or as a member of a panel. 8. As far as practicable the Board shall summon each member of a panel in turn to serve upon an appeal tribunal: Provided that no member of a panel shall sit upon an appeal tribunal during the consideration of a case– (a) in which he acted or appeared as the representative of the claimant; or (b) by the decision of which he is or may be directly affected; or (c) in which he has taken part as an official or member of an association or a trade union, or as an employer, or as a witness. 9. Where in the consideration of an appeal– (a) a Chairman of a tribunal becomes unable or unwilling to act, or dies, the Minister shall revoke the appointment of such person and appoint another Chairman; (b) any other member of a tribunal becomes unable or unwilling to act, or dies, the Board shall revoke the appointment of such person and summon another person from the panel from which the said member was drawn. 10. The Minister may, if he considers it expedient so to do, at any time revoke the appointment of a Chairman of an appeal Social Security 193 tribunal, and in like manner the Board may revoke the appointment of a member of a panel: Provided that such revocation shall not, except in a case covered by paragraph 9 above, be made during the pendency of an appeal. 11. Any person appointed as Chairman of a tribunal or member of a panel may resign his office on giving the Minister or the Board, as the case may be, one month’s notice in writing of his intention to do so. 12. The appointment or termination of appointment of a Chairman of an appeal tribunal or of a member of a panel shall be published in the Gazette. 13. The Board shall appoint an officer of the Board to perform the functions of clerk to an appeal tribunal. 194 Social Security SECOND SCHEDULE [Regulation 9] PROCEDURE OF APPEAL TRIBUNAL 1. Any person who exercises the right to appear before an appeal tribunal and be heard pursuant to these Regulations may– (a) be represented at the hearing by some other person duly authorised for that purpose to the satisfaction of the Chairman of the tribunal, whether having professional qualifications or not, and for the purposes of the hearing, any such representatives shall have all the rights to which the person whom he represents is entitled under these Regulations; (b) with the permission of the Chairman of the tribunal, call witnesses and may question any witnesses called at the hearing. 2. Reasonable notice of date, place and time of hearing of a case before an appeal tribunal shall be given to the claimant, and to any other person who may appear to the Chairman of the tribunal to be interested, and, except with the consent of the claimant or interested person, the appeal tribunal shall not proceed with the hearing of the case unless such notice has been given. 3. If a claimant or other person to whom notice of hearing has been duly given in accordance with these Regulations fails to appear either in person or by a representative at such hearing and has not given a reasonable explanation for his absence, the tribunal may proceed to determine the case, or may give such directions with a view to the determination of the case as they think proper. Social Security 195 4. Where a member of an appeal tribunal, other than the Chairman, is prevented by extraordinary and unforeseen circumstances from being present at the hearing of an appeal, the tribunal may, with the consent of the claimant, and not otherwise, proceed with the appeal and if the members present are unable to agree on a decision, the Chairman shall have a second or casting vote. 5. For the purpose of arriving at a decision, or discussing any question or procedure, an appeal tribunal may, notwithstanding anything in these Regulations, order all persons, except the clerk of the tribunal, to withdraw from the hearing. 6. In any case before an appeal tribunal– (a) a point of law arising from an appeal or reference shall be determined solely by the Chairman; (b) any other question or claim submitted to the tribunal in accordance with these Regulations, shall be determined by simple majority of all the members of the tribunal. 7. The appeal tribunal shall record its decision in writing and such record– (a) shall include a statement of the reasons for their decision and their findings on all questions of fact material thereto; (b) shall be signed by all the members of the tribunal: Provided that the record of a decision on a question of law shall only be signed by the Chairman. 196 Social Security 8. A copy of the record of the decision of the tribunal shall be sent, as soon as practicable after the decision, to the claimant or other interested person and to the Manager or the Board, as the case may require. 9. Subject to the provisions of these Regulations, the procedure for the consideration and determination of any appeal or reference to an appeal tribunal shall be such as the Chairman of the tribunal may determine, due regard being had to the principles of natural justice.