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08 September 2017
Issue: 7760 / Categories: Legal News , Tribunals , Employment
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Unison: unfair is not unlawful

The Supreme Court’s ruling that employment tribunal fees ‘are unfair, therefore they are unlawful’ is ‘surprising’, a senior employment law solicitor has said.

Writing in this week’s NLJGSC Solicitors partner Tessa Fry points out that most of the evidence was rejected by the High Court and the Court of Appeal, whereas the Supreme Court ‘accepted almost all of Unison’s arguments some of which were based on hypothetical examples and assumptions, rather than actual evidence’.

Fry says the introduction of fees was not the sole reason for the decline in tribunal cases, for example, the qualifying period for unfair dismissal was raised from one to two years, compensation for unfair dismissal was limited to 12 months’ pay, and tribunals were given increased powers to strike out claims at an early stage.

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Carey Olsen—Patrick Ormond

Carey Olsen—Patrick Ormond

Partner joinscorporate and finance practice in British Virgin Islands

Dawson Cornwell—Naomi Angell

Dawson Cornwell—Naomi Angell

Firm strengthens children department with adoption and surrogacy expert

Penningtons Manches Cooper—Graham Green

Penningtons Manches Cooper—Graham Green

Media and technology expert joins employment team as partner in Cambridge

NEWS
Freezing orders in divorce proceedings can unexpectedly ensnare third parties and disrupt businesses. In NLJ this week, Lucy James of Trowers & Hamlins explains how these orders—dubbed a ‘nuclear weapon’—preserve assets but can extend far beyond spouses to companies and business partners 
A Court of Appeal ruling has clarified that ‘rent’ must be monetary—excluding tenants paid in labour from statutory protection. In this week's NLJ, James Naylor explains Garraway v Phillips, where a tenant worked two days a week instead of paying rent
Thousands more magistrates are to be recruited, under a major shake-up to speed up and expand the hiring process
The winners of the LexisNexis Legal Awards 2026 have now been announced, marking another outstanding celebration of excellence, innovation, and impact across the legal profession
Three men wrongly imprisoned for a combined 77 years have been released—yet received ‘not a penny’ in compensation, exposing deep flaws in the justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Jon Robins reports on Justin Plummer, Oliver Campbell and Peter Sullivan, whose convictions collapsed amid discredited forensics, ‘oppressive’ police interviews and unreliable ‘cell confessions’
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