Appeals · evidence · deadlines

Which tribunal hears your appeal

Four jurisdictions, four bodies, and the difference between a direction the council must obey and a recommendation it can decline.

UK-specific guidanceSources shown on every guideReviewed 8 September 2026

Which body hears your appeal depends only on where the notice was issued. You do not choose, and appealing to the wrong one wastes the 28 days.

Where your appeal goes

Where the notice was issuedWho hears the appealNote
London London Tribunals Hears penalty charge notices issued in the London boroughs and by Transport for London.
England outside London, and Wales the Traffic Penalty Tribunal One tribunal for everything outside London in England, and for the whole of Wales.
Scotland the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (General Regulatory Chamber) You can only appeal after challenging the charge with the council and receiving a notice of rejection.
Northern Ireland an independent adjudicator Notices are issued and enforced by the Department for Infrastructure, not by councils. The notice of rejection tells you how to appeal.

A direction and a recommendation are not the same win

What the adjudicator can do splits in two, and the difference decides whether you have actually won.

OutcomeWhat it means
Direction If the appeal succeeds, the adjudicator must allow it and may direct the authority to cancel the notice and refund what you paid. A direction is binding: the authority must comply with it immediately.
Recommendation If the appeal fails but the circumstances still warrant it, the adjudicator may instead recommend that the authority cancel the notice. A recommendation is not binding — but if the authority does not respond within 35 days, it is taken to have accepted it.

If you get a recommendation, the clock is worth watching. The authority has 35 days to say what it intends to do. Silence past that point counts as acceptance, so a recommendation that appears to have been ignored may in fact have succeeded.

Appealing to the adjudicator costs you nothing. The adjudicator does have a power to award costs, which is why the notice of rejection has to mention it, but it is used rarely and for unreasonable conduct rather than for losing.

If it has already gone past the tribunal stage →

Common questions

Which tribunal hears my appeal?
It depends only on where the notice was issued. London Tribunals for London, the Traffic Penalty Tribunal for the rest of England and for Wales, the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (General Regulatory Chamber) in Scotland, and an independent adjudicator in Northern Ireland. You cannot choose, and sending an appeal to the wrong one burns the deadline.
Is the adjudicator independent of the council?
Yes. Adjudicators are appointed under statute and decide the case on the evidence, and where they direct an authority to cancel a notice the authority must comply immediately. They are not council employees and they are not deciding whether the council was reasonable — they are deciding whether the charge is payable.
Do I have to attend a hearing?
Not usually. Most appeals are decided on the papers, and the tribunals are built for people without lawyers. You can ask for a hearing, in person or by telephone or video depending on the tribunal, if you want to explain something that does not fit on a form.
What happens if I lose at the tribunal?
The charge becomes payable again and the escalation timetable resumes, so pay promptly rather than waiting for the next letter. There is no general right of appeal against an adjudicator’s decision on the merits — a review is possible only on narrow procedural grounds.
The adjudicator recommended cancellation but the council has not replied. What now?
Count the days. The authority has 35 days to respond to a recommendation, and if it does not, it is taken to have accepted it. Write and say so, citing the date of the recommendation.

Sources

Figures last checked 8 September 2026