The government has suffered a humiliating defeat after the Supreme Court ruled that employment tribunal fees are inconsistent with access to justice and as a result the Ministry of justice has said it would take “immediate steps to stop charging fees in employment tribunals and put in place arrangements to refund those who have paid”.
The Supreme Court said it based its conclusion on the fact that fees were “inconsistent with access to justice” and had resulted in a substantial fall in the number of claims being brought.
The decision by a panel of seven justices, headed by the court’s president, Lord Neuberger, came after an appeal against lost cases in the high court and court of appeal. The action was brought against the then Lord Chancellor and justice secretary, Liz Truss.
The court accepted the argument that fees of up to £1,200 were preventing workers – especially those on lower incomes – from getting justice.
The number of discrimination cases fell by 90% in the first year after the fees were introduced in July 2013 and all cases have fell by 80% over the past 4 years.
It is expected that the government will have to pay back around £32 million in fees.
GMB Regional Secretary Paul McCarthy welcomed the decision saying:
“This is great news for the rights of working people who for the past few years have been denied justice unless they could afford to pay these unfair costs or if they were not members of a union who could fight their cases for them.
Low paid workers have been particularly hard hit, especially many pregnant women who haven’t been able to take cases where they have been blatantly discriminated against by unscrupulous employers capitalising on a system that prices them out of their rights
An attack on access to justice is an attack on democracy itself and brings shame on the previous coalition government who introduced these charges”.
