20 July 2016

Submitting his final report to government before he retires, Certification Officer (CO) David Cockburn has criticised the Trade Union Act and the way it was brought into law.

The official stated that he was not properly consulted on the new legislation, despite the fact it would bring significant changes to his role.

New powers afforded to the CO include the investigation of allegations of breaches reported by people who are not members of trade unions; the enforcement of the CO’s orders; the imposition of financial penalties of up to £20,000; and the charging of a levy on trade unions to cover the cost of the CO’s activities.

“The role of the Certification Officer will change from being mainly the adjudicator of members’ complaints to become one with more general policing and enforcing responsibilites,” Cockburn said.

“This is not the role to which I was appointed in 2001.”

Furthermore, he stated that he was not consulted on whether there was any evidence of unmet demand for further powers of the CO before the proposals were laid before parliament - casting doubt on the government’s claim that the new laws are justified by a need for transparency.

He also highlighted two anxieties he has about the new law.

He firstly criticised the ability of non-members of trade unions to report allegations of breaches to the CO.

“My concern is that trade unions may find themselves subjected to a myriad of references to the Certification Officer by persons and/or organisations seeking to pursue them for industrial, political or other purposes and who have the motivation and money to put any given situation under a microscope,” he explained.

“At the very least, trade unions will have to bear the financial burden of contesting such cases and the levy imposed by the Certification Officer may be increased as a result.”

He also raised concerns about the new role of CO as “investigator, prosecutor and adjudicator”.

“This raises immediate issues of a fair trial, as required by Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights and the Human Rights Act 1998,” he stated.

Read the full report here