Consultation Response: Employment Tribunals

The Department for Employment and Learning issued a 12 week public consultation on Employment Tribunals in July 2015. The consultation document detailed updated regulations and procedural rules on the development of information and guidance materials aimed at ensuring that people have a clearer understanding of what they can expect from a tribunal. Consultation proposals:

• A focus on improving the efficiency and effectiveness of tribunal processes by setting out in a single, simpler set of regulations, duties and powers;

• New rules based on the revised employment tribunal rules in Great Britain following the review by Mr Justice Underhill in 2012 which also take into account issues that are considered to be of particular importance for NI, such as formal provision for a new approach to early case management;

• These rules will also link to a proposed new Labour Relations Agency system developed to support a new early conciliation service which the Department intends to introduce in 2016;

• There is also a significant focus on improvements around guidance materials for tribunal users, including mechanisms for engaging with a wider cross-section of tribunal users to allow feedback to improve services and the development of learning materials.

The Bar Council’s response to the consultation can be read in full here and this was submitted to the Department in September 2015.