[IER] How we can build on Unison's tribunal fees success

Fri Jul 28 17:18:55 BST 2017

IER News Brief 28/07/17

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news brief

Friday 28th July 2017

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Congratulations to Unison on its success at the Supreme Court <http://ier.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3&id=4e95be8c79&e=71131c031b>  this week, which saw tribunal fees ruled unlawful after a four-year fight by the public sector union.

The seven judges that unanimously voted to throw out tribunal fees reminded the government of the meaning and purpose of the rule of law, dismissing as "demonstrably untenable" the idea that the charges only affected those bringing a claim and had no wider social benefit.

"Courts exist in order to ensure that the laws made by Parliament, and the common law created by the courts themselves, are applied and enforced ... In order for the courts to perform that role, people must in principle have unimpeded access to them. Without such access, laws are liable to become a dead letter, the work done by Parliament may be rendered nugatory, and the democratic election of Members of Parliament may become a meaningless charade," the ruling said.

This landmark decision led to the immediate repeal of tribunal fees and pressure on the government to repay £32 million to workers <http://ier.us12.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3&id=c1bb826e86&e=71131c031b>  who have made claims in the last four years.

While we celebrate this fantastic news, we ask how we can continue building upon successes like this one.

In our Manifesto for Labour Law, we put forth proposals for the improvement of enforcement.

At the moment, there are many breaches of law that go undiscovered and unpunished because individual workers do not have an indepth knowledge of their rights, legal assistance, or the resources to take their employer to court.

We argue that individual workers should not be expected to police their own workplaces, and an independent Labour Inspectorate should be established to identify and correct breaches to the law, as well as impose sanctions (including criminal penalties) where appropriate.

In addition, there should be a positive duty on employers to demonstrate they are abiding by labour standards, and that their contractors are also compliant.

By reinstating sectoral collective bargaining, we can also move towards a culture in which employers and unions agree reasonable dispute resolution procedures that can be performed inhouse without necessitating court action.

Where an external court system is still required, we propose that this is made stronger, with greater powers of inspection, tougher penalties for the worst offenders, and the inclusion of employer and union representatives on panels to provide an industry context to disputes.

Read more in this week's blog on tribunal fees <http://ier.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3&id=3806786dac&e=71131c031b>  

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	Tribunal fees unlawful, says Supreme Court
Unison has won a landmark victory in the Supreme Court today (26 July 2017), as the highest judges in the land unanimously ruled that the government's tribunal fee system is unlawful.
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More than seven million people are set to lose nearly £10,000 because of government plans to raise the state pension age ahead of schedule.
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 Acccess to Justice <https://gallery.mailchimp.com/f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3/images/3217d00c-d174-45e5-a9cf-a588a59f2af4.jpg> 

	Commit to repayment of £32m tribunal fees, Labour MPs demand
Labour MPs have asked the government to confirm that the £32 million that has been illegally charged in tribunal fees over the last four years will be repaid to workers.
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	COMMENT: Supreme Court Ruling On Tribunal Fees Shows Unions Are A Public Good
Professor of Industrial Relations at the University of Bradford Gregor Gall explains how this week's ruling shows that unions are beneficial to wider society.
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	COMMENT: How we can build on Unison's tribunal fees success
We look out the options for further strengthening access to justice.
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In the second of IER’s series of Mythbusters, Andrew Moretta considers the many myths surrounding access to justice, including the narrative surrounding the “red tape” and “burdens on business” ideology, which he believes paved the way for systematic attacks on the tribunal system.

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	Access to Justice: Exposing the myths: £6
By Andrew Moretta
In the second of IER’s series of Mythbusters, Andrew Moretta considers the many myths surrounding access to justice, including the narrative surrounding the “red tape” and “burdens on business” ideology, which he believes paved the way for systematic attacks on the tribunal system.
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Unite the Union, London
This conference brings together some of the UK’s leading experts from the fields of law, academia and campaigning to discuss the state of play for equality protections in the country today, what threats they face, and how they can be protected.
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