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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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