Complaint to JCIO re Panel & Copy to HMCTS Pre Set Aside

Hi all,

Quick update. I came back from my holiday earlier late last night, re-arranged the break, to deal with this and any other issues that came up.

I was told by HCTMS I'd be emailed to let me know the WSOR was being sent, however nobody did that. But as expected I found the WSOR on the doormat waiting when I got back last night. It is dated June 14 but I told HCTMS already that I would be away during this time and asked for an extension to respond to the WSOR before I left. I also have a letter from them replying to my request from May 17 and telling me they could not forward an extension request to a judge when I had not yet received the WSOR and to write back and request one when I had it, referencing my earlier letter (!).

I have read the WSOR once last night and once this morning now I've had time to absorb it and pretty much every point states I am not credible/i.e. they don't believe me. I know from memory they have ignored what I told them in the appeal hearing at least 3/4 times, possibly on every single point they have listed. So this is clearly an error of law or many errors of law.

They have also made up things I didn't say or deliberately misquoted me. Is this also an error of law?

As time is of the essence please could someone advise on the following -

1. Should I immediately write to HMCTS again requesting the extension I did to apply for a set aside, as I did before? Now I am back early and have seen the WSOR I may not need until August 16th to reply but I would at least like a calendar month from the date I returned and had an opportunity to read/digest it, ie July 26. However I may leave the date the original one I asked for - August 16 - to avoid confusion and in case I need further time.

2. I would like to tell people on here what the WSOR says to get advice on how to respond but I'm conscious this may be too much. Please can someone advise if this is ok or not and what I should list on here to get advice on how to reply?

As I said pretty much every single point says I am not credible or it is not credible I did not do x, y or z. Most of this is made up or evidence or what I told them has been ignored or used selectively in the WSOR. I'm glad I forced myself to do the transcript so I can now refer to this in my set aside request.

Also I read that they need to refer to the actual law and explain how the descriptors do not apply to me. This has not been done at all. All that is said is stuff along the lines of - we already said we don't accept this happens on the majority of days or over 50% of the time. No reference to what I said - I cannot do something reliably, safely, to an acceptable standard etc. Is this right?

3. Where can I check what the legal tests are please? It is said the legal test for cooking a meal is to be able to cook a basic meal using simple ingredients from scratch but I can't find where this is stated for every descriptor on this site.

Overall I think it is pretty clear from the WSOR there has been no attempt to ensure the panel have been fair to me and if anything only confirms my accusation of bias/an unfair hearing. They are critical and condemnatory of me throughout, accusing me of being 'passive' about my conditions when I have not been and accusing me of not doing things when I have. It is pretty outrageous in all honesty but there's no time to be outraged obviously. Just letting people know the overall tone.

Unfortunately I don't have my entire medical history but am now going to request this from my GP so I can add extra evidence at any future hearing. Oh they also said my medical evidence was 'unenlightening as it was mostly about my eye operations' which is patently untrue. Again they have overlooked and cherry picked evidence in some responses yet used or misquoted it in other ones. It is really confusing to read and try to understand.

They also totally failed in the WSOR to explain what 'help seeking behaviour' means or to show how I am behaving in that way.

I'm really hoping their WSOR only furthers my claim for a set aside.

Lastly I heard from JCIO when I was away about the complaints I made. They have not looked at any bullying or repeated questions. They have accepted 2 complaints about the disability member and the GP and nothing about the judge and are investigating. They are investigating the GP laughing inappropriately and the disability member sneering at me when he said I did not seem shy, I seemed confident. I wrote back and said they left out the GP's phone bell going off - as it seems they really only want to focus on one thing - and have not had any reply about that.

Many thanks for all your advice and support in advance.

Hi again

I would also like to add how extremely disappointed and disheartened I am by not only being deliberately misquoted by the DWP/Capita assessor, but now again being deliberately misquoted by a so called professional Tribunal panel.

This is the nicest way I can put it. But others may call their behaviour a different word.

The Tribunal have also said they agree with the DWP/Capita assessor despite being sent a full transcript of the assessment which shows I said things that were ignored (deliberately) and despite Capita admitting the assessment was not up to standard. Yet they agree with the incompetent assessor - and effectively criticise me complaining about the fact there were so many mistakes in the medical report. They also said if I can make complaints then I must be motivated to 'sort out my medical problems', which is also a disgrace. Endo is a lifelong condition for which there is no cure which has been completely ignored, as well as any actions I have taken to try and get extra help. The fact they repeatedly called me passive is an insult to me and my condition and effectively tells me they have paid no regard to my depression.

It is like they knew I had been bullied and decided to bully me all over again by deliberately making things up I have not said and by ignoring the evidence I've supplied. It is disgusting quite frankly.

Is it possible to complain to HMCTS about their behaviour as it can't be a mistake to deliberately misquote me on everything they've said in the WSOR? And as I said even though the JCIO say they investigate bullying and harassment they are not looking at the fact I was crying throughout and not offered any help/breaks, nor are they looking at repeated questions. I actually counted 91 repeat questions tonight.

Who is the right body to complain to about all of this as it appears the JCIO are minimising my complaint?

These people really do not deserve to be Tribunal panel members. The constantly critical and completely made up WSOR shows they are clearly far too comfortable in their role and think they cannot be removed. I'm not saying I will be the one to remove them but they clearly need to be looked at properly and in full detail by their managers.

Hi Bis

Sorry I know I have stated several different things above yet not actually written the bulk of what the WSoR says. I think this is where things are confusing.

1. Yes I did make a separate complaint to the JCIO as LL26 advised a while ago. This has progressed to being accepted against 2 of the panel members but only for a couple of transgressions, being the snide comment made about how I seem very confident, being shouted at by the disability member - which is very obvious on the recording - and the GP laughing inappropriately. I have gone back to the JCIO about the GP's phone bell going off repeatedly as they have left that out. They are not looking at the repeat questions, the fact that I was crying throughout and nobody stopped to give me a break/ensure I could answer, etc.

2. This is why I asked if there was anything else I should say about the matters the JCIO have decided to leave out, and who I should address that to. But this is really not of such importance as getting this decision set aside/appeal as you said, so I will forget about complaining further for now and just be thankful some complaints are being investigated by the JCIO.

3. I did today write to HMCTS to ask for an extension to the one month deadline due to being abroad until yesterday plus taking into account my illness. I have asked for an extension to appeal until August 16 by the latest. I may reply much sooner but I'm going to see if I can get external advice as well, possibly from HMCTS directly as I understand if you are unrepresented, they may help you find errors of law? I will look into that anyway.

4. I think it is best for me to post what has been written exactly in the WSoR, then the kind contributors on here can advise. I will start a new thread for advice on that so there is no confusion with the title of this thread and posting the WSoR for advice.

5. Lastly I have done some searching online for past Tribunal appeals and have found some where the panel have behaved atrociously/shown clear bias in their decision making, so I will try to write the same words that the judges making the set aside have used in their decisions on those. There are many references to what LL26 said about ensuring a fair hearing and the fact this does not appear to have been done in the other cases. I'm just thankful I already have written the transcript so all I need to do now is write the appeal to set aside.

Yes BIS I fully agree there is bias oozing out of the WSoR which I hope condemns the panel and together with the audio and complaints proves they have not been fair to me at all. They have accused me of being passive regarding my illnesses which is patently untrue and they were supplied evidence to show I have not been passive about them, as well as told my actions in the hearing, so they have ignored evidence, or they have just lied about it.

They then said it is hard to believe I am so passive about my illnesses when I have shown so much motivation about complaining re the DWP reports. It is bizarre that they have made up so many lies in the WSoR which will be instantly disproved in my appeal. It just shows to me that they believe they are invincible and can do what they like to claimants.

I was also condemned for being 'educated and articulate', what that has to do with PIP I fail to see. I thought there was envy towards the consultant I had fought for in 2018 but the WSoR seems to show there is also envy from the panel towards me as a person. They would have much preferred me to be uneducated and inarticulate I assume? How nasty is that attitude towards claimants?

I may understand their position regarding passivity had I actually done nothing and not been to the GP or called them - although this word would also be grossly unfair to my mental health and fatigue and not taking any account of that - but I haven't so really, this WSoR is not worth wiping your backside with. They also said they did not believe I had any mental health issues and that I was coping fine. Laughable really when I was sobbing throughout, which they made no reference to either.

I will write what the WSoR says tomorrow, I'm fairly sure it will come in for a barrage of criticism on here.

Just an update - both complaints have just been dismissed by the JCIO.

I won't post what they said exactly but they don't agree I was sneered at, they don't agree I was shouted at despite him being overly loud and me whimpering in response and they don't agree the GP was laughing inappropriately. They acknowledge her phone was going off but this was a case management issue for the judge to deal with and they've not said anything else.

Both complaints dismissed outright and well over half of each complaint ignored.

I have even been told the GP was compassionate towards me (!)
How was this when she failed to show any empathy or compassion when I was crying throughout the 2 hours? Or does he mean the fact she asked for tissues for my snot is compassionate?
Or maybe I should be grateful she wasn't shouting at me when she was doing her interrogating and asking at least 50 odd repeat questions when I'd already answered?

I have just sent them a short reply as there was no answer when I called at 4pm, for the attention of their complaints manager, basically asking what the point is in having a bullying/harassment policy when they ignore complaints where the audio clearly demonstrates the appellant is heavily distressed and yet none of the panel show any empathy, offer any breaks or make any welfare checks to ensure the appellant can answer, the latter being against the law?

I asked why their own recruitment video states panel members had to be empathic, compassionate and non judgemental when the audio clearly shows this panel failed in these requirements?

I also added that I had sought an independent opinion - here - and most said 'these people should not be tribunal members'.

Even if they don't reply I will likely forward their inaction/dismissal of the complaint to my MP when I get a chance. He will be in the Cabinet in a month's time. I have checked and there's no point referring it to the Ombudsman as they only check if there have been any case management mistakes and won't examine the complaint again.

Very disappointing and crap, I must say.