RB v Secretary of State for Defence [2026] UKUT 117 (AAC) (12 March 2026)

Executive summary

The Upper Tribunal allowed RB’s appeal against the Pensions Appeal Tribunal’s 4 February 2025 decision and set that decision aside for error of law. It held that the tribunal had wrongly treated the matter only as an entitlement appeal under section 1 of the Pensions Appeal Tribunals Act 1943, when it also raised a section 5 assessment appeal about the maintained 40% disablement assessment and alleged deterioration of accepted conditions.

Key points

• Parties: RB v Secretary of State for Defence (Veterans UK)
• Holding: appeal allowed; Pensions Appeal Tribunal decision set aside and remitted to a fresh tribunal with no findings preserved
• Reasoning: the 20 June 2024 decision was partly a review of an existing assessment, and the notice of appeal/case clearly raised deterioration and degree-of-disablement issues
• Legal framework: the tribunal had to apply both the 1943 Act and Articles 42 and 44 of the 2006 Disablement and Death Service Pensions Order
• Open justice point: the Upper Tribunal said the lower tribunal’s failure to identify the judge and panel members in its published decision was inconsistent with Tickle v BBC and should not be repeated

Why it matters

This is not a sanctions/export-control case, but it is relevant to sovereign-risk and national-security audiences because it shows how a UK tribunal will police statutory scope and set aside decisions where the wrong appeal framework is used. It also reinforces open-justice expectations in sensitive proceedings, including where anonymity orders are in place.

Implications

For litigation strategy, parties must frame war-pension disputes precisely and preserve both entitlement and assessment grounds where a review decision is involved. For compliance and enforcement functions inside government, the case shows that failing to include the correct assessment materials and statutory analysis can nullify the first-instance outcome and force a full rehearing before a fresh tribunal.