Is the Section 2 hearing listed within 7 days or 10 days after Covid? I am slightly confused about which rule currently applies.
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They increased it to 10 so that they could score better against their targets, though I think they still nearly always meet the old seven-day deadline.
Thereās some background to this at Mental Health Tribunal and coronavirus - Mental Health Law Online. I add and remove things from time to time, but currently it says:
Tribunal rule 37 used to require the tribunal to start s2 cases within 7 days after the date on which it receives the application notice. This was changed temporarily to 10 days by Tribunal Procedure (Coronavirus) (Amendment) Rules 2020 on 10/4/20. The amended rules also allowed the tribunal to ignore the new deadline if it is ānot reasonably practicableā. These amendment rules expired on 25/9/22 when s55(b) Coronavirus Act 2020 expired. The change to 10 days (though not the explicit ability to circumvent it) was the subject matter of two consultations: see Tribunal Procedure Committee, āConsultation on possible amendments to the Tribunal Procedure (First-Tier Tribunal) (Health, Education and Social Care Chamber) Rules 2008 on the timescale for listing Section 2 hearingsā (from 11/2/20 to 7/4/20), Tribunal Procedure Committee, āPossible amendments to the Tribunal Procedure (FTT) (HESC) Rules 2008ā (consultation about s2 listing, from 21/6/22 to 16/8/22) and Tribunal Procedure Committee, āReply from the Tribunal Procedure Committeeā (following consultation on changes to section 2 listing, 19/10/22).
The temporary coronavirus extension expired on 25 September 2022, but from 1 November 2022 it was made permanent by the Tribunal Procedure (Amendment No. 2) Rules 2022: now āthe hearing of the case must start within 10 days after the date on which the Tribunal received the application noticeā (Tribunal rule 37).
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