National Industrial Relations Court
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{{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Relations Act 1971 The Industrial Relations Act 1971 (c.72) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, since repealed. It was based on proposals outlined in the governing Conservative Party's manifesto for the 1970 general election. The goal was to stabil ...
. The NIRC was created by the
Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
government of
Ted Heath Sir Edward Richard George Heath (9 July 191617 July 2005), often known as Ted Heath, was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 to 1975. Heath a ...
as a way to limit the power of
trades union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ...
in the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
. It was empowered to grant
injunction An injunction is a legal and equitable remedy in the form of a special court order that compels a party to do or refrain from specific acts. ("The court of appeals ... has exclusive jurisdiction to enjoin, set aside, suspend (in whole or in pa ...
s as necessary to prevent injurious
strike Strike may refer to: People * Strike (surname) Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm *Airstrike, military strike by air forces on either a suspected ...
s and also to settle a variety of labour disputes. It also heard appeals from the
Industrial 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. Unusually, its jurisdiction extended throughout the UK, making no distinction between
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 ...
or
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 ...
. Its first and only President was John Donaldson, supported by John Brightman (both High Court judges who later became
Law Lords Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, commonly known as Law Lords, were judges appointed under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 to the British House of Lords, as a committee of the House, effectively to exercise the judicial functions of the House of ...
) and Lord Thomson, a judge of the Scottish
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 ...
. The court also had nine appointed lay members, and one of the three judges sat with a lay panel. The court hearings were in public, but its procedure was relatively informal, with neither the judge nor
barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...
s wearing wigs or gowns. The NIRC was controversial throughout its short life. Donaldson, the president of the court, was known to have Conservative leanings, having stood as a Parliamentary candidate for the Conservative party and, indeed, having contributed to the drafting of the Industrial Relations Act. Many cases were decided against the trades unions, although the unions had a policy of not co-operating with, and in many cases ignoring, the court. In July 1972, a dispute involving the dock workers union led to five
shop steward A union representative, union steward, or shop steward is an employee of an organization or company who represents and defends the interests of their fellow employees as a labor union member and official. Rank-and-file members of the union hold ...
s being imprisoned in
Pentonville Prison HM Prison Pentonville (informally "The Ville") is an English Category B men's prison, operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. Pentonville Prison is not in Pentonville, but is located further north, on the Caledonian Road in the Barnsbury ar ...
for
contempt of court Contempt of court, often referred to simply as "contempt", is the crime of being disobedient to or disrespectful toward a court of law and its officers in the form of behavior that opposes or defies the authority, justice, and dignity of the cour ...
. Unofficial strike action in support of the
Pentonville Five The Pentonville Five were five shop stewards who were imprisoned in July 1972 by the National Industrial Relations Court for refusing to obey a court order to stop picketing a container depot in East London. Their arrest and imprisonment led to th ...
created a national crisis, only averted when the
Official Solicitor The Office of the Official Solicitor is a part of the Ministry of Justice of the Government of the United Kingdom. The Official Solicitor acts for people who, because they lack mental capacity and cannot properly manage their own affairs, are unable ...
(advised by
John Vinelott Sir John Evelyn Vincent Vinelott (15 October 1923 – 22 May 2006) was a leading barrister at the Chancery bar and an English High Court judge in the Chancery Division from 1978 to 1994. He was born in Gillingham, Kent, and studied at Queen E ...
, later a High Court judge) appealed the arrests to the Court of Appeal, who ordered their release. A dispute involving the
Amalgamated Union of Engineering Workers The Amalgamated Engineering Union (AEU) was a major British trade union. It merged with the Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union to form the Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union in 1992. History The history of t ...
also led to a finding of contempt of court, a substantial fine, and an order for the sequestration of the assets of the union (although the fine was ultimately paid anonymously). The NIRC was abolished by the
Trade Union and Labour Relations Act 1974 The Trade Union and Labour Relations Act 1974 ("TULRA") was a UK Act of Parliament (now repealed) on industrial relations. The Act contains rules on the functioning and legal status of trades union, the presumption that a collective agreement ...
soon after the
Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...
government of
Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He ...
came to power in 1974. One of the leading legal decisions of the NIRC was '' Norton Tool Co Ltd v Tewson''
972 Year 972 ( CMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Spring – Emperor John I Tzimiskes divides the Bulgarian territories, recent ...
ICR, in which Donaldson J ruled that damages for
wrongful dismissal In law, wrongful dismissal, also called wrongful termination or wrongful discharge, is a situation in which an employee's contract of employment has been terminated by the employer, where the termination breaches one or more terms of the contra ...
only extended to financial loss, and that compensation was not available for non-pecuniary losses, such as injury to pride or feelings. This position was doubted by
Lord Hoffmann Leonard Hubert "Lennie" Hoffmann, Baron Hoffmann (born 8 May 1934) is a retired senior South African–British judge. He served as a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary from 1995 to 2009. Well known for his lively decisions and willingness to break ...
in ''
Johnson v Unisys Ltd ''Johnson v Unisys Limited'' 001UKHL 13is a leading UK labour law case on the measure of damages for unfair dismissal and the nature of the contract of employment. Facts After twenty years of working for Unisys Ltd in Milton Keynes, in 1994 Mr ...
''
003 003, O03, 0O3, OO3 may refer to: *003, fictional British 00 Agent *003, former emergency telephone number for the Norwegian ambulance service (until 1986) *1990 OO3, the asteroid 6131 Towen * OO3 gauge model railway *''O03 (O2)'' and other related ...
1 AC 518, but upheld in '' Dunnachie v Kingston-upon-Hull City Council'' 004UKHL 36.


External links


Catalogue of the Papers of the Trades Union Congress
* ttp://www.marxist.com/hbtu/chapter_21.html In the Cause of Labour - Chapter 21 - The Road to Pentonville Labour relations in the United Kingdom Former courts and tribunals in the United Kingdom 1971 establishments in the United Kingdom Courts and tribunals established in 1971 Courts and tribunals disestablished in 1974