Property News · August 1, 2017

Workers who lost tribunal rights should have the chance to pursue their claims | Letters


There should be access to justice for those who could not afford hiked tribunal fees, writes Professor John Holford, the odds are already stacked against claimants, says Tony Greenstein and Unison is congratulated for fighting the case by Frank BurchillYou report that following last week’s supreme court decision the Ministry of Justice will refund employment tribunal fees charged since 2013 (Employment tribunal fees scrapped after supreme court rules them unjust, 27 July). So it should; but it should go further. The court concluded that “a significant number of people who would otherwise have brought claims have found the fees to be unaffordable” (para 91): the fees were “unlawful ab initio” because they have “the effect of preventing access to justice” (para 119).While those who paid the fees were indeed overcharged, it is those who could not pay who were denied justice. I think of a colleague declared “redundant” (or, as she and many others thought, unfairly dismissed) 18 months ago. Faced with the fees, she dropped her case. What the supreme court has decided – in what you rightly call “a triumphant defence of the rule of law” – is that she and many thousands like her were illegally denied access to justice. It is they, above all, who need redress. The government should compensate them, set aside time limits and enable them to pursue their claims. Continue reading…

Source : theguardian.com
Read more…Workers who lost tribunal rights should have the chance to pursue their claims | Letters

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