Witnesses

The First-tier Tribunal can by citation  (The First-tier Tribunal for Scotland Social Security Chamber (Rules of Procedure) 2018, rule 16(1)):

• require any person to attend as a witness at a hearing at a certain time and place
• order any person to answer any questions or produce any documents which relate to any issue in the proceedings.

A citation is a formal letter.

The citation for a person to attend as a witness must include all of the following (The First-tier Tribunal for Scotland Social Security Chamber (Rules of Procedure) 2018, rule 16(2)):

• at least 14 calendar days’ notice of the hearing or any other period of time the First–tier Tribunal sets
• information about how the witness’s expenses for attending can be paid, if the witness is not a party in the case
• who is to pay the expenses for attending
• state that the person who is cited can apply to the Tribunal to have the citation varied or set aside
• the consequences of failing to comply with the citation or order.

No one can be compelled to either:

• give any evidence
• produce any document that they could not be compelled to give or produce in civil proceedings in a Scottish court (The First-tier Tribunal for Scotland Social Security Chamber (Rules of Procedure) 2018, rule 16(3)).