I should probably know the answer to this so at the risk of sounding dumb..!

Are the documents in a social security appeal public documents? I.e. can a third party, who is not party to the proceedings, ask for copies? Given in particular that tribunal hearings are public?

IS there any differnce between

the evidence papers
written submissions
the decision notice
SOR/ROP
Evidence/submissions given to the commisioners?

Hope not from a Data protection point of view ......

I suppose you could ask the same question about any court case. Certainly it is standard practice, in a reported court case, to do not much more than publish the judgment itself, with any extracts from the evidence actually cited in that evidence. I would ba astonished if evidence and written submissions were public documents, but I couldn't tell you why.

Thanks ariadne. The rule in court cases is in Part 5 of the CPR, ( http://www.justice.gov.uk/civil/procrules_fin/contents/parts/part05.htm#6311428 ) generally statements of case and judgements are available as of right to non parties, other documents only with the court's permission. Still not sure about tribunals though!