ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the nature of procedures adopted by Australian tribunals in dealing predominantly with civil matters. Tribunals are generally regarded as operating as a forum for affordable justice and are vested with considerable procedural flexibility, where the ‘just, quick and cheap resolution’ of the issues in dispute is often part of a tribunal’s statutory mandate. The idea that these three competing factors should be balanced against each other is regularly adopted in the decision-making of tribunals and in the judgments of appellate courts called upon to evaluate the procedural practices of other legal institutions. This chapter considers whether a balancing approach meets the requirements of justice. It argues instead for an approach, informed by relational theory, based on the importance of participation. The chapter also examines whether a just resolution can be achieved in a forum that encourages self-representation if tribunals do not adequately fulfil their obligations to help parties understand the procedures in which they are involved.
