Consultation on tribunal reforms


One of the latest steps in the government’s push for radical reform of the courts and tribunal system is a consultation launched by The Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy and the Ministry of Justice. 


Reforming the tribunal system — taking forward the principles of wider court and tribunal reform in Employment Tribunals and the Employment Appeal Tribunal, was issued on 5 December 2016. 


Responses are required by 20 January. 


The consultation document explains that the reforms are intended to “transform the way that tribunal users engage with the system”, including enabling citizens to “present their own cases easily”, simplifying systems, cutting costs and making “better use of modern technology”.


Along with the consultation document and response form, the government has also released an impact assessment setting out the potential costs of the various reform proposals, along with an equality assessment. 


Of interest to unions will be the potential impact on disabled people of a focus on the use of technology. In the equality assessment, the government “recognises that there is evidence that people with a long-term disability are less likely to use the internet and other digital channels than people who are not disabled”. 


However, it claims that this will be “mitigated by the assisted digital service which will provide support to users to access and use the digital service or alternative methods where appropriate”.

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/reforming-the-employment-tribunal-system