Tribunals in the United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, a tribunal is a specialist court with jurisdiction over a certain area of civil law. They are generally designed to be more informal and accessible than 'traditional' courts. They form part of the national system of administrative justice, with tribunals classed as non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs).Examples of tribunals include employment tribunals, Office of Fair Trading adjudicators, the Gender Recognition Panel, the Planning Inspectorate and the Company Names Tribunal. Though it has grown up on an ad hoc basis since the beginning of the twentieth century, from 2007 reforms were put in place to build a unified system with recognised judicial authority, routes of appeal and regulatory supervision. The UK tribunal system is headed by the Senior President of Tribunals.