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11 September 2015 / Stephen Levinson
Issue: 7667 / Categories: Features , Employment
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Tribunals in trouble

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Stephen Levinson analyses the results of enquiries into the impact of the fees in employment tribunals

Shortly after the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) announced it was to review the impact of the fees in employment tribunals the Justice Select Committee, which keeps the MoJ under review, declared it was to do the same thing. Given the disquiet caused by the fees, perhaps this level of concern should not be unexpected. That is why, before either announcement was made, the Employment Lawyers Association (ELA) commissioned a survey of its 6,000 members to canvass their views. This article discusses the outcome of that survey concerning the impact of fees, the enforcement of awards and also the effectiveness of the rule changes. It then attempts to draw some wider conclusions (in the opinion of the author and not the ELA) from tenor of these responses.

The greatest anxiety is related to access to justice. Politicians can be expected to be entirely cynical about such views and will claim that they are based on self-interest and concern about lost

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Thackray Williams—Lucy Zhu

Thackray Williams—Lucy Zhu

Dual-qualified partner joins as head of commercial property department

Morgan Lewis—David A. McManus

Morgan Lewis—David A. McManus

Firm announces appointment of next chair

Burges Salmon—Rebecca Wilsker

Burges Salmon—Rebecca Wilsker

Director joins corporate team from the US

NEWS
What safeguards apply when trust corporations are appointed as deputy by the Court of Protection? 
Disputing parties are expected to take part in alternative dispute resolution (ADR), where this is suitable for their case. At what point, however, does refusing to participate cross the threshold of ‘unreasonable’ and attract adverse costs consequences?
When it comes to free legal advice, demand massively outweighs supply. 'Millions of people are excluded from access to justice as they don’t have anywhere to turn for free advice—or don’t know that they can ask for help,' Bhavini Bhatt, development director at the Access to Justice Foundation, writes in this week's NLJ
When an ex-couple is deciding who gets what in the divorce or civil partnership dissolution, when is it appropriate for a third party to intervene? David Burrows, NLJ columnist and solicitor advocate, considers this thorny issue in this week’s NLJ
NLJ's latest Charities Appeals Supplement has been published in this week’s issue
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