Cap. 551 Art. 23First hearing of the appeal. S.L. 552.13.

(1) The Tribunal shall, within two months from the lodging of the appeal application, except in the instances where the appeal is accompanied by a request for suspension of the execution of a permission, appoint the day and hour and hold the first hearing for the parties to appear before it, in order to show cause why the claims, pleas and witnesses contained in their respective application and reply should be allowed. The Tribunal shall, on the same day and at the hour appointed for the first hearing of the appeal, decide which witnesses, listed in the application for appeal and reply to the appeal, it deems relevant for the purpose of giving evidence: Provided that where there is no request for a suspension of the execution of the development as provided in the articles hereunder, advance notice of not less than fourteen days, in such manner as the Tribunal may deem appropriate, shall be given of the first hearing of the Tribunal to the parties, and the interested third parties who registered their interest during the processing of the application before the Planning Authority, and the external consultees who made their recommendations in terms of the Development Planning (Procedure for Applications and their Determination) Regulations or any other regulations which may from time to time succeed the said regulations: Provided further that in cases of urgency the said time limit of fourteen days may be abridged by order of the Tribunal, if the Tribunal is satisfied that the party requesting urgency has given a valid reason in writing thereof.

(2) Where the appeal is accompanied by a request for suspension of the execution of a permission, the Tribunal shall notify the parties, hold its first hearing and decide the request within the time-frame stipulated in article 33(2).