No reason for HMCTS to pay compensation

What happened

Mr J lodged an appeal against an Information Tribunal decision with the Administrative Court. However there had been a change in the law that meant that the Administrative Court could no longer hear this type of case, and instead it had to be heard by an Upper Tribunal.

The Administrative Court staff did not notice this until Mr J pointed it out. At that stage the case was passed to the Deputy Master (part of the judiciary) for directions on what should happen next. The case remained with the Deputy Master for over a year before it was passed to the Upper Tribunal to be heard.

Mr J wrote to the court several times during this time to speed things up but it did not move matters forward.

After Mr J's legal action was finished, he complained to HMCTS. He said that the delays in his appeal against the Information Tribunal delayed other legal action he had running at the same time. He said that he could not sell his house and settle all his legal bills until all his legal action finished, and the Administrative Court's delay meant he had to pay tens of thousands of pounds of additional interest on his debts.

When Mr J complained to HMCTS, it apologised and offered him £1,000 compensation for the frustration he experienced. But it said there was no link between its delay and the additional interest Mr J incurred.

What we found

We did not uphold this case. Court staff lost an early opportunity to identify that the case was with the wrong court. Although the case was held up because of the Deputy Master's actions, HMCTS staff should have done more to hurry matters along.

However, there were no grounds for HMCTS to pay Mr J the level of compensation he was looking for and we were satisfied it had already done enough to put the matter right.