Michael Rubenstein reflects on the employment law changes he has witnessed since 1972
Industrial Relations Law Reports (IRLR) is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. I have had the honour of editing it from the start. The very phrase “industrial relations” is now anachronistic, but although the context is now very different, most of our core employment legislation has its origins in the 1970s, as does the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT).
EAT
EAT decisions have formed the heart of IRLR since the court began sitting in 1976. In the early days, it was inevitable that EAT judges would have little background in employment law, let alone the emerging area of discrimination law. In the case of Sir Gordon Slynn and Sir Nicolas Browne-Wilkinson, this was of little consequence - both were brilliant lawyers. The policy for many years of rotating the EAT presidency between judges from the Family, Chancery and Queen’s Bench Division was not appropriate, however.
In contrast, all the EAT presidents from Mr Justice Morison onwards in 1997 appear
