The Employment Appeal Tribunal is a

tribunal A tribunal, generally, is any person or institution with authority to judge, adjudicate on, or determine claims or disputes—whether or not it is called a tribunal in its title. For example, an advocate who appears before a court with a single ...

England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Eng ...

and

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, and is a superior

court of record A court of record is a trial court or appellate court in which a record of the proceedings is captured and preserved, for the possibility of appeal. A court clerk or a court reporter takes down a record of oral proceedings. That written recor ...

. Its primary role is to hear appeals from

Employment Tribunal Employment tribunals are tribunal public bodies in England and Wales and Scotland which have statutory jurisdiction to hear many kinds of disputes between employers and employees. The most common disputes are concerned with unfair dismissal, red ...

s in England, Scotland and Wales. It also hears appeals from decisions of the

Certification Officer The Trades Union Certification Officer was established in the United Kingdom by Act of Parliament in 1975. They head the Certification Office for Trade Unions and Employers' Associations. Responsibilities The Certification Officer is responsible f ...

and the

Central Arbitration Committee The Central Arbitration Committee is a UK government body, whose task is to oversee the regulation of UK labour law as it relates to trade union recognition and collective bargaining. Chairs * Michael Burton *Former deputy chair, PL Davies See a ...

and has original jurisdiction over certain

industrial relations Industrial relations or employment relations is the multidisciplinary academic field that studies the employment relationship; that is, the complex interrelations between employers and employees, labor/trade unions, employer organizations, ...

issues. The tribunal may sit anywhere in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

, although it is required to have an office in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. It is part of the

UK tribunals system The tribunal system of the United Kingdom is part of the national system of administrative justice with tribunals classed as non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs). Tribunals operate formal processes to adjudicate disputes in a similar way to co ...

, under the administration of

His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) is an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice. It was created on 1 April 2011 (as Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service) by the merger of Her Majesty's Courts Service and the Tribunal ...

. The tribunal may not make a

declaration of incompatibility A declaration of incompatibility in UK constitutional law is a declaration issued by a United Kingdom judge that a statute is incompatible with the European Convention of Human Rights under the Human Rights Act 1998 section 4. This is a central pa ...

under the

Human Rights Act 1998 The Human Rights Act 1998 (c. 42) is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom which received royal assent on 9 November 1998, and came into force on 2 October 2000. Its aim was to incorporate into UK law the rights contained in the European Con ...

Membership

There are two classes of members of the tribunal: *Nominated members, who are appointed from English and Welsh circuit judges, judges of the High Court and the

Court of Appeal A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of t ...

as well as at least one judge from the

Court of Session The Court of Session is the supreme civil court of Scotland and constitutes part of the College of Justice; the supreme criminal court of Scotland is the High Court of Justiciary. The Court of Session sits in Parliament House in Edinburgh ...

. *Appointed members, who must have special knowledge or experience of industrial relations, appointed either as representatives of: **Employers; or **Workers. Members are nominated or appointed by the

Lord Chief Justice Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...

. One of the nominated judges is selected as the president. The usual term of office for president is three years. Since 1 January 2019, the president has been Sir Akhlaq Choudhury.

Procedure

The tribunal is governed by the Employment Appeal Tribunal Rules 1993, as amended in 1996, 2001, 2004 and 2005, and further by its Practice Direction. Parties are expected to understand and apply these rules.

Jurisdiction

The tribunal has

jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, areas of jurisdiction apply to local, state, and federal levels. Jur ...

to consider appeals only on

questions of law In law, a question of law, also known as a point of law, is a question that must be answered by applying relevant legal principles to interpretation of the law. Such a question is distinct from a question of fact, which must be answered by reference ...

, including perversity.

Appeals from the Employment Appeals Tribunal

A party dissatisfied with a decision of the Employment Appeal Tribunal may apply to the tribunal requesting a review of its own decision. The tribunal may also review its decision of its own motion. Decisions can be reviewed where an error is relatively minor, for example a clerical error. Where a party believes the tribunal has misapplied the law or acted perversely, the review process is inappropriate and the party may

appeal In law, an appeal is the process in which cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of clarifying and ...

to the

(England and Wales) or the

(Scotland). Parties are expected to comply with strictly enforced time limits when applying for a review or appeal.

History

The Employment Appeal Tribunal was created in 1975 as a successor to the

National Industrial Relations Court {{Use dmy dates, date=April 2022 The National Industrial Relations Court (NIRC) was established on 1 December 1971 under Section 99 of the Industrial Relations Act 1971. The NIRC was created by the Conservative government of Ted Heath as a way to l ...

, which had been abolished in 1974. Presidents of the Employment Appeal Tribunal *1976 to 1978 – Sir Raymond Phillips *1978 to 1981 – Sir Gordon Slynn *1981 to 1983 – Sir Nicolas Browne-Wilkinson *1983 to 1985 – Sir John Waite *1986 to 1988 – Sir Oliver Popplewell *1988 to 1993 – Sir John Wood *1993 to 1996 – Sir John Mummery *1996 to 1999 – Sir Thomas Morison *1999 to 2002 –

Sir John Lindsay Rear Admiral Sir John Lindsay, (1737 – 4 June 1788) was a British naval officer of the 18th century, who achieved the rank of admiral late in his career. Joining the Navy during the Seven Years' War, he served off France, followed by service ...

*2002 to 2005 – Sir Michael Burton *2006 to 2008 – Sir Patrick Elias *2009 to 2011 – Sir Nicholas Underhill *2012 to 2015 – Sir Brian Langstaff *2016 to 2018 – Dame Ingrid Simler *2019 to 2022 – Sir Akhlaq Choudhury *2022 to present – Dame Jennifer Eady

Offices

The tribunal has two permanent offices: for

it is located at Fleetbank House, Salisbury Square, in the Fleet Street area of London; for Scotland it is located at George House, 126 George Street in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

.Employment Appeal Tribunal
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References

External links

*{{cite web , url=http://www.employmentappeals.gov.uk/ , title=Employment Appeal Tribunal , publisher=Tribunals Service , year=2007 , access-date=2008-03-21 Labour relations in the United Kingdom 1975 establishments in the United Kingdom Ministry of Justice (United Kingdom) United Kingdom tribunals Organisations based in the City of London