Latest Presidential Guidance –Employment Tribunal and EAT hearings postponed.
The Presidents of the Employment Tribunal (ET) and Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) have announced that, with effect from 23 March 2020, all in-person hearings will be postponed. Instead of the in-person hearing taking place, the first day of each hearing will be converted to a case management hearing (conducted by telephone or electronically), or an Appointment for Directions in the case of the EAT, during which the parties will discuss the re-listing of the hearing or the appeal, and whether they can and should take place electronically via Skype or other similar means. These measures are in place indefinitely in the case of the ET, and until at least 9 April 2020 in the case of the EAT. ETs remain available to consider applications made on paper.
This guidance is sensible in light of the current policy on social distancing, and in line with the measures taken by a wide variety of public institutions. It will be interesting to note the extent to which hearings are relisted to take place electronically, and the impact that such hearings could have on the credibility and force of witness evidence. It is also unclear how far in the future hearings will need to be postponed, and whether this will change the tactics of the parties involved; for example, the use of time pressure as leverage in settlement discussions will may well reduce in the short term.
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Lucy Sorell is an employment senior associate
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