Article 39 Procedure at hearing
At the beginning of the hearing the Chair must explain the order of proceedings which the tribunal panel proposes to adopt.
The tribunal panel must conduct the hearing in a manner it considers appropriate to ensure clarity of the issues and to handle the proceedings fairly and justly, avoiding, as far as it considers appropriate, unnecessary formality in its proceedings.
The tribunal panel must determine the order in which the parties are heard and the issues determined.
The tribunal panel may, if it is satisfied that it is fair and just to do so, permit—
the applicant to rely on grounds not stated in the notice of application or the case statement and to rely on evidence not submitted to the Commissioner before or at the time the disputed decision was taken,
the Commissioner to rely on grounds not specified in the Commissioner’s case statement.
If, at or after the beginning of a hearing, a member of the tribunal panel other than the Chair is absent—
the hearing may, with the consent of the parties, be conducted by the other two members and in that event the tribunal panel is to be regarded as properly constituted and the decision of the tribunal panel may be taken by those two members,
the absent member must not re-join the hearing.