Recordings of ET Hearings

The request was refused by Employment Tribunals Service.

Date: 23 March 2022 (response due by: 23 April 2022)

Dear Employment Tribunals Service,

Recordings of ET hearings and case management hearings ("ET hearings")

Please note FOIA gives individuals and organisations the right of access to all types of recorded information held, at the time the request is received, by public authorities such as the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). Section 84 of the FOIA states that in order for a request for information to be handled as a FOI request, it must be for recorded information.

Please can you confirm if ET judges, or any other ET court officials, have the legal power to record ET hearings for purposes of review, training, monitoring, or any other purposes? If so, is it : -
1. a blanket power, or
2. a limited discretionay power, or
3. a requirement to record all ET hearings for internal purposes

Lastly, please can you confirm the percentage of ET hearings that have been VHS, CVP, dictaphone, etc., recorded for whatever purposes (internal or otherwise) by comparison to the greater number of all ET hearings heard in full or in part over the past 12 months.

Yours faithfully,

[J (remainder of first name removed)] Rossouw

Disclosure Team, Employment Tribunals Service

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LondonKILO, Employment Tribunals Service

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Dear [J (remainder of first name removed)] Rossouw,

 

Please see the attached acknowledgment to your request (our reference:
220323007)

 

Regards

 

Knowledge and Information Officer
Knowledge and Information Liaison Unit | London Regional Support Unit |
3^rd Floor | First Avenue House | 42-49 High Holborn | London | WC1V 6NP |
DX160010 Kingsway 7

Web: [1]www.gov.uk/hmcts

 

Unless a higher marking is specified please treat this email as: OFFICIAL

 

 

 

 

 

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LondonKILO, Employment Tribunals Service

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Dear [J (remainder of first name removed)] Rossouw,

 

Please see the attached response to your request (our reference 220323007)

 

Knowledge and Information Officer
Knowledge and Information Liaison Unit | London Regional Support Unit |
3^rd Floor | First Avenue House | 42-49 High Holborn | London | WC1V 6NP |
DX160010 Kingsway 7

Web: [1]www.gov.uk/hmcts

 

Unless a higher marking is specified please treat this email as: OFFICIAL

Click [2]here to provide some feedback and help improve our service.

[3]Here is how HMCTS uses personal data about you

 

[4]Coronavirus (COVID-19): courts and tribunals planning and preparation

 

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20 April 2022

Dear Knowledge and Information Liaison Officer (KILO)
(Ministry of Justice (Employment Tribunal))

Re: Recordings of ET hearings and case management hearings ("ET hearings")

Your response dated 19 April 2022 refers.

Your response states:

"... MoJ are not the appropriate authority to contact on this subject,..."

The kernel of my FOI request made on 23 April 2022 is copied here for ease of reference:
"Please can you confirm if ET judges, or any other ET court officials, have the legal
power to record ET hearings for purposes of review, training, monitoring, or any other
purposes? If so, is it : - 1. a blanket power, or 2. a limited discretionay power, or 3. a
requirement to record all ET hearings for internal purposes"

For a complete response, please can you state who is the appropriate authority (or authorities) on this subject. My request refers to "ET judges, or any other ET court officials" with the legal power to record. Please provide the name/s of the approriate authority (or authorities) involved in regulating the different parties with legal powers to record ET hearings and case management hearings ("ET hearings").

Yours sincerely,

[J (remainder of first name removed)] Rossouw

LondonKILO, Employment Tribunals Service

Thank you for your email. Please accept this auto-response as confirmation
that your request has been received. We endeavour to provide a response to
all emails as soon as possible within 5 working days unless marked urgent

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This e-mail and any attachments is intended only for the attention of the
addressee(s). Its unauthorised use, disclosure, storage or copying is not
permitted. If you are not the intended recipient, please destroy all
copies and inform the sender by return e-mail. Internet e-mail is not a
secure medium. Any reply to this message could be intercepted and read by
someone else. Please bear that in mind when deciding whether to send
material in response to this message by e-mail. This e-mail (whether you
are the sender or the recipient) may be monitored, recorded and retained
by the Ministry of Justice. Monitoring / blocking software may be used,
and e-mail content may be read at any time. You have a responsibility to
ensure laws are not broken when composing or forwarding e-mails and their
contents.

Dear Employment Tribunals Service,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Employment Tribunals Service's handling of my FOI request 'Recordings of ET Hearings'.

Dear Employment Tribunals Service,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Employment Tribunals Service's handling of my FOI request 'Recordings of ET Hearings using the CVP platform'.

I wrote: -

Dear Knowledge and Information Liaison Officer (KILO)
(Ministry of Justice (Employment Tribunal))

Re: Recordings of ET hearings and case management hearings ("ET hearings")

Your response dated 19 April 2022 refers.

Your response states:

"... MoJ are not the appropriate authority to contact on this subject,..."

The kernel of my FOI request made on 23 April 2022 is copied here for ease of reference:
"Please can you confirm if ET judges, or any other ET court officials, have the legal
power to record ET hearings for purposes of review, training, monitoring, or any other
purposes? If so, is it : - 1. a blanket power, or 2. a limited discretionay power, or 3. a
requirement to record all ET hearings for internal purposes"

For a complete response, please can you state who is the appropriate authority (or authorities) on this subject. My request refers to "ET judges, or any other ET court officials" with the legal power to record. Please provide the name/s of the approriate authority (or authorities) involved in regulating the different parties with legal powers to record ET hearings and case management hearings ("ET hearings").

My complaint is that I have not had a complete response providing the information requested under the FOIA provisions, nor the name of the appropriate authority to whom you have indicated that the FOI should be sent but which you have left un-named. I cannot redirect the FOI to a nameless "appropriate authority".

Consequently, I question the lawfulness of the FOI response under the FOIA provisions, and therefore request an independent review of the response please.

Yours sincerely,

[J (remainder of first name removed)] Rossouw

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/r...

Yours faithfully,

[J (remainder of first name removed)] Rossouw

Disclosure Team, Employment Tribunals Service

This is an automated confirmation that your email has been received by the
Disclosure Team (Ministry of Justice) mailbox.

Freedom of Information (FOI)

If your email is a FOI request, you can expect a response within 20
working days.

Subject Access Requests (under the General Data Protection Regulation
((EU) 2016/679)) (the Regulation) and/or Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA))

If your email is a SAR, you can expect a response within 1 calendar month.

══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

This e-mail and any attachments is intended only for the attention of the
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permitted. If you are not the intended recipient, please destroy all
copies and inform the sender by return e-mail. Internet e-mail is not a
secure medium. Any reply to this message could be intercepted and read by
someone else. Please bear that in mind when deciding whether to send
material in response to this message by e-mail. This e-mail (whether you
are the sender or the recipient) may be monitored, recorded and retained
by the Ministry of Justice. Monitoring / blocking software may be used,
and e-mail content may be read at any time. You have a responsibility to
ensure laws are not broken when composing or forwarding e-mails and their
contents.

Disclosure Team, Employment Tribunals Service

Dear Ms Rossouw

Can you please advise if your request relates to our response provided on the 20th April 2022 in regards to your request received on the 23rd March 2022 under reference 220323007.

If your request does relate to this then unfortunately we are unable to accept your internal review request as this has to be done within 2 months of our initial response.

Kind Regards

Disclosure Team

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Dear Disclosure Team,

Thank you for your reply.

I apologise for any confusion caused.

This request refers to your response dated 19 April 2022 (not 20 April 2022).

Yours sincerely,

[J (remainder of first name removed)] Rossouw

Disclosure Team, Employment Tribunals Service

Dear Ms Rossouw

We do not appear the have received a request dated the 19th April.

If you could advise

Regards

Disclosure Team

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Dear Disclosure Team,

Link to your response letter dated 19 April 2022 here:
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/r...

The above link connects to your response letter dated 19 April 2022, which was only uploaded to WDTK as an attachment a day later on 20 April 2022 - hence the confusion with the two said dates.

Regrettably, the information provided in your response letter dated 19 April 2022 only deals with judges - and not any other ET court officials. For ease of reference the compound question is quoted here:

"Please can you confirm if ET judges, or any other ET court officials, have the legal power to record ET hearings for purposes of review, training, monitoring, or any other purposes?"

Respectfully, please provide the information as to whether any other ET court officials have the legal power to record ET hearings for purposes of review, training, monitoring, or any other purposes?

Furthermore, if you consider that this particular part of the question should be directed to another public body, please provide the details. I have noted that there is some confusion in the information given in your letter, dated 19 April 2022, as to a possible redirection of part of the freedom of information request, but it is not clear enough.

Yours sincerely,

[J (remainder of first name removed)] Rossouw

Disclosure Team, Employment Tribunals Service

Dear MS Rossouw

Can you please provide the reference number from this response provided by ourselves.

Regards

Disclosure Team

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Dear Disclosure Team,

In your response dated 2 September 2022 refers.

The reference number on your response letter dated 19 April 2022 is reference no. 220323007- FOI. Please advise why you could not see this on the link that I provided to the response letter?

For ease of reference, I have added the text (which includes the reference number) of the said letter under Note 1 below my name.

Yours sincerely,

[J (remainder of first name removed)] Rossouw

Note 1: Letter dated 19 April 2022, From:
Disclosure Team
Ministry of Justice
102 Petty France
London
SW1H 9AJ
[email address]

19 April 2022

Dear [J (remainder of first name removed)] Rossouw

Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Request – 220323007 - FOI

Thank you for your request received on 23 March 2022 in which you asked for the following information from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ):
“Dear Employment Tribunals Service,
Recordings of ET hearings and case management hearings ("ET hearings")
Please note FOIA gives individuals and organisations the right of access to all types of recorded information held, at the time the request is received, by public authorities such as the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). Section 84 of the FOIA states that in order for a request for information to be handled as a FOI request, it must be for recorded information.

Please can you confirm if ET judges, or any other ET court officials, have the legal power to record ET hearings for purposes of review, training, monitoring, or any other purposes? If so, is it : - 1. a blanket power, or 2. a limited discretionay power, or 3. a requirement to record all ET hearings for internal purposes
Lastly, please can you confirm the percentage of ET hearings that have been VHS, CVP, dictaphone, etc., recorded for whatever purposes (internal or otherwise) by comparison to the greater number of all ET hearings heard in full or in part over the past 12 months.”

Your request has been handled under the FOIA.
In relation to your first request, please note that MoJ does not hold any information in the scope of your request. This is because MoJ are not the appropriate authority to contact on this subject, as judges are their own data controllers, MoJ is not responsible for the information you have requested as this is information only the Judges would have.

As for the second part of your request, please note that MoJ does not hold any information in the scope of your request. This is because there is no legal or business requirement for MoJ to do so. This information has not been recorded and therefore we are not able to disclose anything in relation to this request.
The FOIA does not oblige a public authority to create information to answer a request if the requested information is not held. The duty is to only provide the recorded information held.
2
Appeal Rights
If you are not satisfied with this response you have the right to request an internal review by responding in writing to one of the addresses below within two months of the date of this response.
[email address]
Disclosure Team, Ministry of Justice,
You do have the right to ask the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) to investigate any aspect of your complaint. However, please note that the ICO is likely to expect internal complaints procedures to have been exhausted before beginning their investigation.
Yours sincerely
Knowledge and Information Liaison Officer
London Regional Support Unit | HM Courts & Tribunals Service

Disclosure Team, Employment Tribunals Service

Dear Ms Rossouw

This is the response that was provided on the 22nd April to a request received on the 23rd March.

As previously advised it is too late to request an internal review as this needs to be done within 2 months of our initial response.

Regards

Disclosure Team

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