The government is seeking to resurrect tribunal fees, posing serious questions about access to justice. The benefits are unclear, writes Catrina Smith
- Proposals to introduce a fee for claimants in the employment tribunal and the Employment Appeal Tribunal raise access to justice issues, and the government has acknowledged that the fee scheme will cost more to administer and implement than it will raise.
- If enacted in their current form, the proposals could be found to be unlawful.
The government has announced proposals to introduce a fee for claimants in the employment tribunal (ET) and the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT). However, if enacted in their current form, they could suffer the same fate as the previous fees regime and be quashed as being unlawful.
The earlier fees regime was in place between 2013 and 2017 under the Employment Tribunals and the Employment Appeal Tribunal Fees Order 2013 (SI 2013/1893), which introduced fees of between £160 and £1,600. The introduction of fees resulted in a significant drop—nearly 70%—in the number
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