The Employment Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) (Amendment) Regulations 2008
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | SI 2008/3240 |
| Year | 2008 |
2008 No. 3240
Employment Tribunals
The Employment Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) (Amendment) Regulations 2008
Made 15th December 2008
Laid before Parliament 17th December 2008
Coming into force 6th April 2009
The Secretary of State, in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 1(1), 4(6), and (6A), 7(1), (3), (3ZA), (3A), (3AA), (3AB) and (5), 9(1) and (4), 19 and 41(4) of the Employment Tribunals Act 19961, and after consultation with the Administrative Justice and Tribunals Council, and that Council having consulted with the Scottish Committee and the Welsh Committee, in accordance with paragraph 24 of Schedule 7 to the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 20072, makes the following Regulations:
Citation and commencement
1. These Regulations may be cited as the Employment Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) (Amendment) Regulations 2008 and shall come into force on 6th April 2009.
Amendment of the Employment Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) Regulations 2004
2. The Employment Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) Regulations 20043shall be amended as set out in regulations 3 to 7.
Amendment of Regulations
3.—(1) In regulation 4(6) after “Lord Chief Justice” delete “after consulting the Lord Chancellor” and at the end, insert “The Lord President or Lord Chief Justice may only make a nomination after consulting the Senior President of Tribunals.”.
(2) In regulation 8(3)(b), (3)(c) and (4), and regulation 9(2), for “Secretary of State” substitute “Lord Chancellor”.
Amendment of Schedule 1
4.—(1) Schedule 1 is amended as follows.
(2) In rule 1—
(a)
(a) in paragraph (1) delete “paragraph (5) of this rule and to”;
(b)
(b) in paragraph (4) delete “paragraph (5) and to”;
(c)
(c) delete sub-paragraphs (4)(f), (g), (h) and (i); and
(d)
(d) delete paragraphs (5), (6) and (8).
(3) In rule 2—
(a)
(a) in sub-paragraph (2)(d) for “are” substitute “may be” and insert “and” at the end; and
(b)
(b) delete sub-paragraph (2)(e).
(4) In rule 3—
(a)
(a) at the end of sub-paragraph (2)(a) insert “or”, and in sub-paragraph (2)(b) for “; or” substitute “.”;
(b)
(b) delete sub-paragraph (2)(c);
(c)
(c) delete paragraph (6); and
(d)
(d) in paragraph (7) delete “(6) and”.
(5) In rule 4—
(a)
(a) in paragraph (4) delete “under rule 11”;
(b)
(b) after paragraph (4) insert—
“4A When a respondent is legally represented in relation to the application the respondent or the respondent’s representative must, at the same time as the application is sent to the Employment Tribunal Office, provide all other parties with the following information in writing—
(a) details of the application and the reasons why it is made;
(b) notification that any objection to the application must be sent to the Employment Tribunal Office within 7 days of receiving the application or, if a hearing of any type is due to take place before the expiry of that 7 day period, before the date of that hearing; and
(c) that any objection to the application must be copied to both the Employment Tribunal Office and all other parties,
and the respondent or that representative must confirm in writing to the Employment Tribunal Office that this rule has been complied with.
4B The time limit described in sub-paragraph (4A)(b) may be amended where the Employment Judge or tribunal considers it in the interests of justice to do so.
4C Where a respondent is not legally represented in relation to the application, the Secretary shall send a copy of the application to all other parties and inform them of the matters listed in sub-paragraphs (4A)(b) and (c).
4D Where a respondent’s application under paragraph (4) is refused the Secretary shall inform the parties in writing of such refusal unless the application is refused at a hearing.
4E This rule is subject to section 12 of the State Immunity Act 19784.”.
(6) In rule 6(6) for “should have been” substitute “is to be”.
(7) In rule 8—
(a)
(a) for paragraph (1) substitute—
“1 Subject to paragraphs (2A) and (6), in any proceedings if the relevant time limit for presenting a response has passed, an Employment Judge shall, in the circumstances listed in paragraph (2), issue a default judgment to determine the claim without a hearing.”;
(b)
(b) after paragraph (1) insert—
“1A If the Employment Judge is not satisfied that he has sufficient information to issue a default judgment, he shall make an order (as described in rule 10(2)(b)) requiring such additional information as he considers appropriate to enable him, subject to paragraphs (2A) and (6), to issue a default judgment.
1B Where an order is made as described in paragraph (1A), and the additional information requested has not been received within the specified time limit, a default judgment shall be issued in accordance with paragraph (1).”;
(c)
(c) in paragraph (2) for “Those circumstances” substitute “Subject to paragraphs (2A) and (6), those circumstances”;
(d)
(d) after paragraph (2) insert—
“2A No default judgment need be issued where the Employment Judge—
(a) is not satisfied that the tribunal has jurisdiction to consider the claim, or part of it; or
(b) has sufficient evidence to conclude that the claim form has not been received by the respondent.”;
(e)
(e) in paragraph (4) after “The Secretary shall also inform the parties of their right to” insert “apply to”;
(f)
(f) for paragraph (6) substitute—
“6 A default judgment shall not be issued where the parties have settled the proceedings (either by means of a compromise agreement or through ACAS). If a default judgment is issued in these circumstances it shall have no effect.”.
(8) In rule 9 before subparagraph (a) insert—
“(aa)
“(aa) make a request under rule 30 (written reasons);”.
(9) In rule 10—
(a)
(a) in sub-paragraph (2)(d) after the first reference to “party” insert “or”;
(b)
(b) delete sub-paragraph (2)(g);
(c)
(c) in paragraph (5) insert “sub-” before “paragraph (2)(d)”;
(d)
(d) in paragraph (7) insert “sub-” before “paragraph (2)(j)”;
(e)
(e) in paragraph (8) between “shall” and “inform” insert “(except where the order is for a witness order described in rule 10(2)(c) only)”.
(10) In rule 11—
(a)
(a) in sub-paragraph (4)(a) for “sought” substitute “made”;
(b)
(b) for sub-paragraph (4)(b) substitute “notification that any objection to the application must be sent to the Employment Tribunal Office within 7 days of receiving the application or, if a hearing of any type is due to take place before the expiry of that 7 day period, before the date of that hearing”;
(c)
(c) after paragraph (4) insert—
“4A The time limit described in sub-paragraph (4)(b) may be amended where the Employment Judge or tribunal considers it in the interests of justice to do so.”;
(d)
(d) for paragraph (5) substitute “Where a party is not legally represented in relation to the application, the Secretary shall (except where the application is for a witness order described in rule 10(2)(c) only) send a copy of the application to all other parties and inform them of the matters listed in sub-paragraphs (4)(b) and (c).”.
(11) In rule 12—
(a)
(a) in sub-paragraph (2)(a) insert “sub-” before “paragraph (2)(b)”; and
(b)
(b) in paragraph (3) insert “sub-” before “paragraph (2)(b)”.
(12) In rule 14, after sub-paragraph (1)(b), insert—
“(bb)
“(bb) a hearing dealing with interim relief as described in rule 18A;”.
(13) For rule 15 substitute—
“1 A hearing may be conducted (in whole or in part) by use of electronic communications provided that the Employment Judge or tribunal conducting the hearing considers it just and equitable to do so.
2 Where a hearing is required by these rules to be held in public and electronic communications are to be used in accordance with this rule then, subject to rule 16, it must be held in a place to which the public has access and using equipment so that, when oral evidence is given the public is able to see and hear all parties to the communication.
3 Where a hearing is to be held in private, and electronic communications are to be used in accordance with this rule, when oral evidence is given the tribunal or Employment Judge must be able to see and hear all parties to the communication.”.
(14) In rule 18—
(a)
(a) delete sub-paragraph (2)(e); and
(b)
(b) in paragraph (3) delete “and (2)”.
(15) After Rule 18, insert—
“Interim relief
18A.—(1) Hearings dealing with interim relief are interim hearings.
(2) Subject to the provisions applying to interim relief of TULR(C)A, the Employment Rights Act, and the Employment Tribunals Act, these rules shall apply when dealing with the following applications as they apply to pre-hearing reviews—
(a)
(a) an application made under section 161 of TULR(C)A or section 128 of the Employment Rights Act for interim relief;
(b)
(b) an application made under section 165 of TULR(C)A or section 131 of the Employment Rights Act to vary or revoke an order.”.
(16) Delete rules 22 to 24.
(17) In rule 25—
(a)
(a) in paragraph (4) after “proceedings are dismissed” delete to end and insert “, the claimant may not commence a further claim against the respondent for the same, or substantially the same, cause of action (unless the decision to dismiss is successfully reviewed or appealed).”; and
(b)
(b) after rule 25 insert—
“Automatic dismissal of proceedings following withdrawal of a claim (or part of a claim) where an ACAS settlement has been reached
25A.—(1) Where—
(a)
(a) the parties settle the whole or part of the proceedings through ACAS;
(b)
(b) the settlement is agreed in writing;
(c)
(c) the parties to the settlement have confirmed...
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