Section 61 — Administrative Review Tribunal Act 2024: Decision-maker who elects not to participate may be a non-participating party to proceeding or Tribunal case event

Person who has given election notice (1) A person is a non-participating party to a proceeding if: (a) the person is a party to the proceeding (other than the applicant); and (b) the proceeding relates to a decision for which the person is the decision-maker; and (c) the proceeding is of a kind for which the person has given an election notice under paragraph 60(1)(a); and (d) the proceeding is not a guidance and appeals panel proceeding; and (e) any conditions prescribed by the rules for the purposes of this paragraph are satisfied; and (f) the Tribunal has not decided under section 62 that the person is to participate in the proceeding; and (g) the Tribunal has not ordered the person to participate in the proceeding under section 63. (1A) A person is a non-participating party to a Tribunal case event in relation to a proceeding if: (a) the person is a party to the proceeding (other than the applicant); and (b) the proceeding relates to a decision for which the person is the decision-maker; and (c) the Tribunal case event and proceeding are of a kind for which the person has given an election notice under paragraph 60(1)(b); and (d) the proceeding is not a guidance and appeals panel proceeding; and (e) any conditions prescribed by the rules for the purposes of this paragraph are satisfied; and (f) the Tribunal has not decided under section 62 that the person is to participate in the Tribunal case event; and (g) the Tribunal has not ordered the person to participate in the Tribunal case event under section 63. Note: A non-participating party remains a party to the proceeding and still needs to comply with this Act and orders of the Tribunal in relation to the proceeding. However, certain requirements do not apply to the party (see, for example, section 83 which deals with removal of a party for failure to appear or non-compliance). (2) To avoid doubt, once the Tribunal decides under section 62 that a person is to participate in a proceeding or Tribunal case event, or orders the person to participate in a proceeding or Tribunal case event under section 63, the person is no longer a non-participating party to the proceeding or Tribunal case event and a new election notice does not affect this. Prescribed circumstances (3) A person is also a non-participating party to a proceeding or Tribunal case event in the circumstances prescribed by the rules.