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22 July 2016 / Paul McFarlane , Joanne Owers
Issue: 7708 / Categories: Features , Employment
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All for one and…

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Joanne Owers & Paul McFarlane on the spectre of a single employment court

  • Why is a single employment court being discussed?
  • ELA’s proposals—three-tier system.
  • Technology, access to justice and lessons from other jurisdictions.

Statutory employment protection claims have been heard in the Employment Tribunal (formerly the Industrial Tribunal) since the 1970s. A protocol was agreed in the mid 2000s (2005/2006) under which the Employment Tribunal’s Service “retains a separate identity within the overall Tribunal Service, forming a distinct pillar within the organisation”. Much has changed since the 1970s in terms of the depth and breadth of statutory employment protection laws but at least until the advent of Employment Tribunal fees in 2013 and the widely welcomed new Employment Tribunal Rules of Procedure of the same year, very little had changed in the way in which Employment Tribunals operated or the cases they heard.

In recent times however momentum appears to be gathering both from the legislature and judiciary to reform Employment Tribunals and move them from their “separate pillar” into the civil

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Carey Olsen—Patrick Ormond

Carey Olsen—Patrick Ormond

Partner joinscorporate and finance practice in British Virgin Islands

Dawson Cornwell—Naomi Angell

Dawson Cornwell—Naomi Angell

Firm strengthens children department with adoption and surrogacy expert

Penningtons Manches Cooper—Graham Green

Penningtons Manches Cooper—Graham Green

Media and technology expert joins employment team as partner in Cambridge

NEWS
Freezing orders in divorce proceedings can unexpectedly ensnare third parties and disrupt businesses. In NLJ this week, Lucy James of Trowers & Hamlins explains how these orders—dubbed a ‘nuclear weapon’—preserve assets but can extend far beyond spouses to companies and business partners 
A Court of Appeal ruling has clarified that ‘rent’ must be monetary—excluding tenants paid in labour from statutory protection. In this week's NLJ, James Naylor explains Garraway v Phillips, where a tenant worked two days a week instead of paying rent
Thousands more magistrates are to be recruited, under a major shake-up to speed up and expand the hiring process
The winners of the LexisNexis Legal Awards 2026 have now been announced, marking another outstanding celebration of excellence, innovation, and impact across the legal profession
Three men wrongly imprisoned for a combined 77 years have been released—yet received ‘not a penny’ in compensation, exposing deep flaws in the justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Jon Robins reports on Justin Plummer, Oliver Campbell and Peter Sullivan, whose convictions collapsed amid discredited forensics, ‘oppressive’ police interviews and unreliable ‘cell confessions’
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