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'ET Judgements against employers who were not the appellants employer'.
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Employment Tribunals Employment Policy Team 3rd Floor Alexandra House 14-22 The Parsonage Manchester M3 2JA DX 743570 Manchester 66 T 0161 833 6316 E:[email address] Minicom 0845 7573722 (Helpline for the deaf and hard of hearing)
Our ref: FOI/63020/10/PS |
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Mr G Thorburn
3 February 2010 |
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Dear Mr Thorburn
Subject: Freedom of Information Request
Thank you for your emails dated 17 December 2009 and 15 January 2010 addressed to the Data Access and Compliance Unit in the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). In your email you made a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) for:
How many judgments have been awarded against employers when there has been no evidence to show that the employer was the appellants employer;
Please list the cases showing date, appellant, respondent, place and Employment Judge or Tribunal Chairman;
Please confine my request for information to Birmingham in the last five years or more, within your £600 limit.
Your request has been forwarded to me because I am responsible for dealing with requests for information made under the FOIA to the Employment Tribunals (ET) and Tribunals Service (TS).
The Department interprets your questions to mean that you are seeking details of judgments where no evidence was before the ET that the claimant was employed by the respondent. If I have interpreted your request incorrectly please let me know and explain exactly what information you are seeking.
I can confirm that the Department does not hold the information you are seeking. It may be helpful if I explain that the role of the TS is to provide administrative support to the ET. The ET itself is not a public authority for the purpose of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) as it is not listed in Schedule 1 of the FOIA.
The Employment Tribunals, like other courts are independent judicial bodies and neither I nor any government official can comment on or interfere in tribunal judgments or decisions. An ET decides whether a claim succeeds or fails based on the evidence presented to the ET and it is a judicial decision. ET judgments and decisions may be changed only:
If the tribunal decides, at the request of either side or on its own initiative to review the judgment; or
After an appeal by either the claimant or respondent.
There are strict time limits for making an application for a review to the ET or for submitting an appeal to the Employment Appeal Tribunal. Further information on making an application for review or submitting an appeal can found in the booklet “The judgment” a copy of which is attached for your information.
As you may be aware the Secretary of the ET has a statutory obligation to maintain a Public Register of Judgments issued by the ET. If a case settles or withdraws before the final hearing a judgment may not be held. The judgments can be inspected at the Public Register which is located in Bury St Edmunds for judgments issued in England and Wales. Members of the public can also request copies of judgments direct from the Public Register either by phone or letter. There is a £10 charge for the first judgment and £5.00 for subsequent judgments.
Alongside the Register, there is an electronic index which allows members of the public to search for ET cases. The electronic index is searchable by claimant name, respondent name, jurisdiction (type of claim), office and year. The TS members of staff cannot conduct searches of the Register on your behalf.
It would not be possible to identify from the Register the reasons why an ET reached and made an individual decision. This information may be contained in the written reasons for a judgment but not all written judgments contain the reasons for the decision. The reasons for the judgment are usually given verbally by the Employment Judge at the end of the tribunal hearing.
The address of the Public Register is provided below and it is open to the public from 9.00am to 5.00pm Monday to Friday (except public holidays).
Tribunals Service
100 Southgate Street
Bury St Edmunds
Suffolk
IP33 2AQ
Telephone: 0845 795 9775
I am sorry that I can be of no further assistance and am unable to provide the information you have requested.
As part of our obligations under the FOIA, the MoJ has an independent review process. If you are dissatisfied with this decision, you may write to request an internal review. The internal review will be carried out by someone who did not make the original decision, and they will re-assess how TS handled the original request.
If you wish to request an internal review, please write or send an email to the Data Access and Compliance Unit within two calendar months of the date of this letter, at the following address:
Data Access and Compliance Unit
Information Directorate
Ministry of Justice
6th Floor - Zone B
102 Petty France
London
SW1H 9AJ
If you remain dissatisfied after an internal review decision, you have the right to apply to the Information Commissioner's Office under Section 50 of the FOIA. You can contact the Information Commissioner's Office at the following address:
Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Yours faithfully
Paula Sidgreaves
Policy Officer
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