Does it work?

This year has seen a quite remarkable number of employment related cases being given leave to appeal to the Supreme Court. Our highest court has made four judgments recently. Home Office v Tariq [2011] UKSC 35, [2011] All ER (D) 108 (Jul) is the least likely to trouble the high street solicitor in Truro, concerning as it did the rarified (but politically contentious) question of the legality of the special advocate procedure for national security cases. The result was not just a full endorsement of that procedure but also a holding that (contrary to the view of the Court of Appeal) there is no overarching requirement to give the claimant and his lawyers enough information to establish the “gist” of the allegations against him. The other three decisions concern the much more everyday issues of “sham” contracts, the unfair dismissal rights of those working abroad and the meaning of “employee” in discrimination law.

Ignoring unrealistic terms

The Supreme Court have given