Employment Tribunals are tribunals in England and Wales and Scotland which have statutory jurisdiction to hear many kinds of disputes between employers and employees. Tribunal is a generic term for any body acting judicially whether or not it is called a tribunal in its title History The Roman occupation of Britain was the first period in which the area of present-day England and Wales was administered as a single unit (with the exception Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. A statute is a formal written enactment of a Legislative authority that governs a Country, State, City, or County. In Law, jurisdiction (from the Latin ius iuris meaning "law" and dicere meaning "to speak" is the practical Authority The most common disputes are concerned with unfair dismissal, redundancy payments and employment discrimination. Unfair dismissal is the term used in English Welsh and Scottish Law to describe an Employer 's action when terminating an Employee 's Employment contrary Layoff is the temporary suspension or permanent Termination of employment of an Employee or (more commonly a group of employees for Business reasons Employment discrimination refers to discriminatory employment practices such as bias in hiring promotion job assignment termination and compensation and various types of The Tribunals are part of the UK tribunals system, administered by the Tribunals Service and regulated and supervised by the Administrative Justice and Tribunals Council. The Tribunal system of the United Kingdom is part the national system of Administrative justice with tribunals classed as Non-departmental The Tribunals Service is an Executive agency of the Ministry of Justice in the United Kingdom. The Administrative Justice and Tribunals Council is a Non-Departmental Public Body in the United Kingdom, responsible for supervising and regulating Administrative

Contents 1 History 2 Procedure 3 Hearings 4 Appeals 5 Administration 6 Statistics 7 External link 8 References

History

Employment Tribunals were created as Industrial Tribunals by the Industrial Training Act 1964. Industrial Tribunals were judicial bodies consisting of a lawyer, who was the chairman, an individual nominated by an employer association, and another by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) or TUC-affiliated union. A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law as an attorney, Counsel or Solicitor; a person The Trades Union Congress (TUC is a national trade union centre, a federation of Trade unions in the United Kingdom, representing the majority of trade These independent panels heard and made legally-binding rulings in relation to employment law disputes. Labour law (also known as employment or labor law is the body of Laws administrative rulings and precedents which address the legal rights of and restrictions Under the Employment Rights (Dispute Resolution) Act 1998, their name was changed to Employment Tribunals from 1 August 1998. Events 30 BC - Octavian (later known as Augustus enters Alexandria, Egypt, bringing it under the control of the Roman Year 1998 ( MCMXCVIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar) ^[1]. Employment Tribunals continue to perform the same function as the Industrial Tribunals.

Procedure

Employment Tribunals are constituted and operate according to statutory rules issued by the Secretary of State. Secretary of State is a commonly used title for a Government Official. ^[2][3][4] These rules set out the Tribunals' main objectives and procedures, and matters such as time limits for making a claim, and dealing with requests for reviews and appeals. In Law, an appeal is a process for requesting a formal change to an official decision

The rules concerning time limits are complex but the typical time limit for making a claim is three months from the date of the act complained of, but the limit can be extended to six months where an employee complains first to the employer, even after employment has been terminated.

Claims are normally initiated by individuals, and normally responded to by employers, or former employers, or trade unions. The terms "claimant" and "respondent" are used to describe the parties involved in Tribunal proceedings. Normally each party pays its own costs. Costs redirects here For costs related to economics and accounting see Cost. Tribunals will order one party to pay the other party's costs in exceptional circumstances, where it is claimed that one party has claimed vexatiously. A court order (or court ruling) is an official proclamation by a Judge (or panel of judges that defines the legal relationships between the parties to a hearing Vexatious litigation is legal action which is brought regardless of its merits solely to Harass or subdue an Adversary.

Tribunals are intended to be informal and to encourage parties to represent themselves. A litigant in person ( in propria persona or in pro per) is someone who is engaged in litigation without legal representation There is no special court dress or complex civil procedure rules as at a County Court. Court dress comprises Dress prescribed for courts of law. This article deals primarily with dress worn in the courts of law of England and Wales and Civil procedure is the body of law that sets out the process that Courts will follow when hearing cases of a civil nature (a " Civil action " as opposed to England and Wales The County Court is the Workhorse of the civil justice system in England and Wales.

Hearings

Prior to a hearing case management may take place to hand down directions as to how the full hearing will be heard. Case management is an area of practice within several Healthcare professions This can be by one of several means, either through correspondence between the parties and the Employment Tribunal or in a Case Management Discussion (CMD). An increasing number of Case Management Discussions take place by telephone. Basic principle A traditional landline telephone system also known as "plain old telephone service" (POTS, commonly handles both signaling and audio information

At the next stage there is a panel of three people, a legally qualified Chair, and two lay members. The lay members use their employment experience in judging the facts. During the hearing the Chair is under a duty to ensure that the hearing is conducted fairly, taking into account both sides' submissions on the law and facts. In Jurisprudence, a question of law (also known as a point of law) is a question which must be answered by applying relevant legal principles by an interpretation In Law, a question of fact (also known as a point of fact) is a question which must be answered by reference to facts and evidence, and inferences Generally witnesses are called for both sides with witness statements being supplied in advance. A witness is someone who has firsthand knowledge about a Crime or dramatic event through their Senses (e A witness statement is a statement summarising the oral Evidence that a Witness will give at trial

One of the lay members should have experience from the employer's side of disputes and the other from the trade union movement. Sometimes the Chair sits on their own, for example, to hear any legal arguments.

Appeals

A party may apply to the Tribunal requesting a review of the Tribunal's own decision. A Tribunal may also review its decision of its own motion. Decisions can be reviewed where an error is relatively minor, for example a clerical error.

Where a party believes the Tribunal has misapplied the law or acted perversely, the review process is inappropriate and the party must appeal to the Employment Appeal Tribunal. In Law, an appeal is a process for requesting a formal change to an official decision The Employment Appeal Tribunal is a Tribunal Non-Departmental Public Body in England and Wales and Scotland, and is a superior Court of For example the right of a Chair to strike-out all or part of a claim while sitting alone in a pre-hearing review has been described by the Appeals tribunal as a "draconian power", but is regularly used. Chairs also have the right to warn parties that costs may be found against them if they appeal or continue their case, or to ask for security for costs. Security for costs is a Common law legal concept of application only in costs jurisdictions and is an order sought from a Court in Litigation As in other courts, the risk of costs being found against may deter genuine claimants who represent themselves, as well as nuisance claimants. This second draconian power restricts control of the first.

Parties are expected to comply with strictly enforced time limits when applying for a review or appeal.

Administration

The Ministry of Justice (United Kingdom) operates the Employment Tribunals Service which is a branch of the Tribunals Service. The Ministry of Justice has been a department of the government of the United Kingdom since 2007 The Tribunals Service maintains a list of claims in which Tribunals have jurisdiction. ^[5]

Statistics

The Employment Tribunals Service published its Annual Report and Accounts for 2005-06 in July 2006 which included these key points:^[6]

• In 2005/2006, there were 115,039 claims accepted, compared with 86,181 in 2004/2005 and 115,042 in 2003/2004.
• 18% of claims were successful at a full hearing in 2005/2006; the remainder were either settled, withdrawn, unsuccessful or otherwise disposed of.
• The median award for unfair dismissal was £4,228; the average award was £8,679. In Probability theory and Statistics, a median is described as the number separating the higher half of a sample a population or a Probability distribution
• The median award for discrimination was between £5,546 and £9,021 (depending on the type of discrimination).
• Costs were awarded against claimants in 148 cases, and against respondents in 432 cases. The median costs award was £1,136.
• 867 Employment Tribunal decisions were appealed to the Employment Appeal Tribunal. The Employment Appeal Tribunal is a Tribunal Non-Departmental Public Body in England and Wales and Scotland, and is a superior Court of Of those, 191 were withdrawn, 378 were dismissed and the remaining 298 appeals were allowed.

External link

• Employment Tribunals. Tribunals Service (2007). Retrieved on 2003-03-21. Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 630 - Byzantine emperor Heraclius restores the True Cross to Jerusalem.

References

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