Gillies v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions [2006] UKHL 2

Plaintiff claimed that a disability benefits appeal tribunal was biased because it included a doctor who for many years had prepared reports for the benefits agency.

HL denied that there was a real possibility of bias and rejected the claim for judicial review.

The issue in law was whether a fair-minded and informed observer, having considered the facts, would conclude that there was a real possibility that the medical member of the disability appeal tribunal would not evaluate reports by other examining medical practitioners objectively and impartially against the other evidence.

This was not shown to be the case on the facts.