I won a rather complex JSA appeal involving an A8 national's entitlement to JSA. The appeal was heard 13/02/07 and he won nearly a years backdated JSA which he promptly spent!
I have now been informed that the DWP have applied for permission to appeal. The Tribunals service did not receive a request for a statement of reasons until 01/05/07, over two months after the decision was made. Can this be right?
I have also been sent their reasons for appealing and they cite a case between Zalewska and the Department for Social Development that was delivered on 09/05/07 - nearly three months after my appeal. Can they do this?
Lastly, if they are succesful will they hit my client with an overpayment for all the money they have now decided he was not entitled to?

Zalewska is available from this link (summary with link to judgment):

http://www.rightsnet.org.uk/cgi-bin/sub_client/search.cgi?template2=news/user_details2.htm&output_number=1&sort=news.submission_date+desc&news.ID=511165510841&start=

The way in which the doctrine of precedent works is that decisions of the Courts are "declaratory". What this means is that the Court declares what the law has always been. This means that the DWP can rely upon a judgment given in a case after your Tribunal was heard to establish that this was the law which the Tribunal should have applied.

As far as the late application for a statement of reasons is concerned you may be able to argue that the DWP now have to pay your client regardless- look carefully at Reg 16 of D&A Regs and Sec 21(2)(c) and (3) of the SSA 1998 to see whether they are allowed to suspend payment in these circumstances.... although to be honest I doubt they can be stopped and a JR would be your only way of testing it if they refuse to continue to pay now (that is if they have ceased payments).

On the point of overpayment:
What FACT has your client FAILED TO DISCLOSE or MISREPRESENTED to CAUSE this overpayment. The reason for any overpayment (assuming they are right about the law) is the Tribunal wrongly directed itself as to the law.... I cannot see how recovery would be possible.

Decisions by the Court of Appeal in Northern Ireland are not binding in GB although it is very unlikely that a Commissioner would disagree with the Court.

In R(S) 5/85 a Commissioner held at paragraph 13:

“It should be noted that although section 142(1) of the Social Security Act 1975 provides for the coordination of the Acts, it in no way alters the position that the social security systems in Great Britain and Northern Ireland are separate and distinct and administered by different adjudicating authorities. A Commissioner in Great Britain has no jurisdiction in Northern Ireland, which has its own Commissioners including a Chief Commissioner. Although the decisions of the Northern Ireland Commissioners are not binding in Great Britain, they may be of persuasive authority, and at least in one case, a Northern Ireland Tribunal of Commissioners’ decision was followed in preference to an unreported decision of a British Commissioner (R(I) 14/63).”