Open Justice at the War Pensions and Armed Forces Compensation Chamber (WPAFCC)

What is open justice?

Open justice is the principle that justice must be both done and seen to be done.  It has many aspects, including:

• allowing the public to see that justice is done (i.e. legitimacy of the justice system)
• overseeing how the justice system is operating (i.e. scrutiny)
• making it easier for people to access and understand the law (i.e. accessibility)

The public has a right to understand our nation's legal processes.  WPAFCC hearings are public hearings.  Anyone can attend as an observer.

We wish for veterans, service personnel and the public to have confidence in the quality of decisions being made in the chamber.  To help that happen, we wish to assist members of the public in observing their hearings.

We are delighted that Mouse in the Court's Daniel Cloake observed an AFCS hearing on 1st February 2024.  Their blog post is a superb introduction to what observers may see and consider: Open Justice at the War Pensions and Armed Forces Compensation tribunal.

This will be undertaken by:

• Sharing tribunal hearing listings (current/next week's hearings) and WPAFCC tribunal procedures explanatory leaflet
  
• Providing links, summaries and judgments of key decisions
• Assisting those wishing to observe such hearings

We take inspiration from The Open Justice Court of Protection Project.  Their team and observers have decades of experience in associated fields and, whilst the Court of Protection is different in many ways from the WPAFCC, there are huge amounts that we can learn from their expertise.

If you wish to join our team of observers, please drop us a line through our contact page.

Open Justice resources and documents to learn from

Justice charity, Sept 2023: response to MOJ consultation, Open Justice: the way forward
MOJ consultation, 2023: Open Justice: the way forward

Bar Council, Nov 2022: Open justice, court reporting and the rule of law

UK Parliament House of Commons Committee report, Nov 2022: Open justice: court reporting in the digital age

Public Law Project: Judicial Review Trends and Forecasts, 2017: Open justice and developments in the law on anonymity, access to material on the court file and reporting restrictions (downloadable 32-page pdf file)