I was very busy last month spending a lot of time both in the Tribunal and coping with the fall out caused by Tribunal administration. It is about time that something was done about the present state of the administration.
I suppose it all started a number of months ago when the Tribunal would not accept the word of my instructing solicitor when he said that one of our key witnesses was not available. In the end it took a last minute begging application draft by me to get the matter adjourned.
Then a Tribunal decided to list a matter on dates when our main witness was away (we had completed the listing matrix and sent it off months before). Despite repeated requests for an adjournment it was only given on the first day of a 4 day hearing.
Next I had a 3 day case with witnesses having booked accommodation and arranged travel up to Manchester being postponed at 3 pm on the Friday before the hearing. No judge was available.
I have had repeated complaints from solicitors that correspondence is not being answered promptly or at all and some cases our simply dropping off the radar with no hearing date or directions being issued.
In short the system appears to be breaking under the increasing workload and we can expect little in the way of improvement in 2010. These failures are now impacting on the advice I give my clients. When the client can see the incompetence of the administrative staff it does not fill them with much confidence and this added to the costs of undertaking litigation means that settlement becomes the overriding objective for most employers.
Whatever happened to the overriding objective of the Tribunal?
Peter D
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