11 August 2017

The Presidents of the Employment Tribunals in England and Scotland have stayed applications regarding claims originally dismissed for the non-payment of fees.

A Presidential Case Management Order was published earlier this week by Judge Brian Doyle, following the ruling by the Supreme Court that tribunal fees are unlawful.

Analysis by employment lawyer Daniel Barnett suggested the document referred to applicants who wish to reinstate a claim that was originally barred for reasons concerning tribunal fees.

"Although seemingly widely phrased (in theory, it could apply to any new claim brought by somebody who might have not have brought a claim under the fees regime, but is now willing to do so), the preamble refers to rules 11 and 40 of the Employment Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) Regulations 2013. Rules 11 and 40 contain the procedure for rejecting or dismissing claims that do not have the proper fee paid (or remission granted).

"So the Case Management Order appears to be aimed at staying applications by people who want to reinstate claims that were dismissed or struck out for non-payment of fees, until the Ministry of Justice and HMCTS have decided how to handle them," Mr Barnett said.