Make tribunals the first court

The debate over tribunals and their relevance is firmly back. A draft law to wind up a few tribunals and move their appellate jurisdiction to the high courts is afoot. Policy choices seem to have come a full circle. However, this phase of change is an excellent opportunity for a sharper and more nuanced policy reform. If this chance is not taken now, an opportunity to leapfrog and build long-term institutional capacity would be lost.

Since the 1990s there has been a proliferation of appellate tribunals — and indeed, a proliferation of regulators. The principle has been: “See a market, create