AH3751 - Section 20 Notices: Commissioners' hearings

Guidance on obtaining permission from a Commissioner for the issue of a notice under TMA70/S20(1) or (3) is at EM2400+.

We have agreed with the Department for Constitutional Affairs that, as a general rule, applications for permission to issue notices under Section 20 TMA should, wherever possible, be made either at the beginning or end of meetings arranged for other purposes (that could include a specially set up contentious hearing on another case).

This does not of course prohibit the arranging of a 'special' meeting where

• there is no other meeting available, and
• the need for the permission is very urgent, or
• the circumstances of the particular case require it, for example, if the application is particularly contentious or sensitive.

A hearing to consider an application for permission to issue notices under Section 20 TMA is an ex-parte hearing and should not be in public. These are preliminary, administrative procedures to which the Commissioners’ regulations do not apply.