[2025] UKUT 181 (AAC)

This ground contends that the Tribunal failed to take “proper account” of the impact of abuse. That is not an arguable ground for judicial review. The weight which the Tribunal (or any public decision-maker) places on the evidence before it is a matter for it: see e.g. R(X) v Ofsted [2020] EWCA Civ 594; [2020] EMLR 22 at [44] “Disagreement on the appropriate weight is never, on its own, a proper basis for a public law challenge”. It cannot be contended that the Tribunal erred by not placing sufficient weight on a relevant matter.

Furthermore, the ground is put on two inconsistent bases:

that the Tribunal took account of the impact of abuse, but failed to take “proper” account of it, but that is a matter going to weight placed on the evidence, which does not demonstrate an error of law; and

that the Tribunal failed to take any account “of the gender dynamics of the abuse, or impact of the trauma”.

the Tribunal plainly did consider and take into account the impact of the abuse, that is the shame and trauma, because it expressly refers to that. That is, it took it into account and set out that at [15] it “can accept that up to a point”. The fact that it did take that into account is also shown by the fact that the Applicant is driven to argue that they did not take “proper” account of it

the argument that the Tribunal should have drawn a distinction between “reporting the symptoms of abuse to a treating doctor and reporting the domestic abuse to the Authority” neglects the fact that this was not a case where the Applicant only reported the events to a doctor, or indeed reported them to no-one at all, as is often the case in cases of repressed trauma. It also neglects the fact that it was not his case that he did not report it. His case was that he did report it, but that he was not aware it was a crime, which is why he did not make a claim for compensation. As above, he in fact reported the events to the authorities, namely the police, as well as Victim Support, thus showing his awareness he was the victim of a crime.