The Industrial Tribunals and Fair Employment Tribunal (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2020

PART 16 OTHER PROCEEDINGS

Interim relief proceedings

93.  When a tribunal hears an application for interim relief under Article 163 of the Employment Rights Order or for its variation or revocation under Article 166 of that Order, rules 47 to 50 (preliminary hearings) apply and the tribunal shall not hear oral evidence unless it directs otherwise.

Proceedings involving the Northern Ireland National Insurance Fund

94.  The Department shall be entitled to appear and be heard at any hearing in relation to proceedings which may involve a payment out of the Northern Ireland National Insurance Fund and shall be treated as a party for the purposes of these Rules.

Collective agreements

95.—(1) Where a claim includes a complaint under any of the statutory provisions listed in paragraph (2) relating to a term of a collective agreement, the following persons, whether or not identified in the claim, shall be regarded as the persons against whom a remedy is claimed and shall be treated as respondents for the purposes of these Rules—

(a) the claimant’s employer (or prospective employer); and

(b) every organisation of employers and organisation of workers, and every association of or representative of such organisations, which, if the terms were to be varied voluntarily, would be likely, in the opinion of an employment judge, to negotiate the variation.

An organisation or association shall not be treated as a respondent if the employment judge, having made such enquiries of the claimant and such other enquiries as the employment judge thinks fit, is of the opinion that it is not reasonably practicable to identify the organisation or association.

(2) The statutory provisions are—

(a) Article 77A(4A) of the Sex Discrimination (Northern Ireland) Order 1976(1);

(b) paragraph 5 of Schedule 3A to the Disability Discrimination Act 1995(2);

(c) Article 68B(1) of the Race Relations (Northern Ireland) Order 1997(3);

(d) Article 100B(1) of the Fair Employment and Treatment Order;

(e) paragraph 5 of Schedule 4 to the Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003(4);

(f) paragraph 5 of Schedule 4 to the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006(5).

Devolution issues

96.—(1) In any proceedings involving a devolution issue as defined in paragraph 1 of Schedule 10 to the Northern Ireland Act 1998(6), the Secretary shall as soon as practicable give notice of that fact and a copy of the claim form and response to each of the persons mentioned in paragraph 5 of that Schedule, unless they are a party to the proceedings.

(2) A person to whom notice is sent may be treated as a party to the proceedings, so far as the proceedings relate to the devolution issue, if that person sends notice to the tribunal within 14 days of receiving a notice under paragraph (1).

(3) Any notices sent under paragraph (1) or (2) must at the same time be sent to the parties.

References to the Court of Justice of the European Union

97.  Where a tribunal decides to refer a question to the Court of Justice of the European Union for a preliminary ruling under Article 267 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union(7), a copy of that decision shall be sent to the registrar of that court.

Transfer of proceedings from a court

98.  Where proceedings are referred to a tribunal by a court, these Rules apply as if the proceedings had been presented by the claimant.

Vexatious litigants

99.  The tribunal may on its own initiative or on application make a request that the Attorney General for Northern Ireland review documents or information for the purpose of determining whether it is appropriate to prepare an application under section 32 of the Judicature (Northern Ireland) Act 1978(8) (restriction on institution of vexatious actions) and the tribunal shall provide any documents or information requested by the Attorney General for Northern Ireland for that purpose.

Provision of information to the Commission

100.—(1) The Secretary shall send to the Commission copies of all judgments, including any written reasons for such judgments, relating to proceedings under—

(a) the Equal Pay Act (Northern Ireland) 1970(9)

(b) the Sex Discrimination (Northern Ireland) Order 1976;

(c) the Sex Discrimination (Northern Ireland) Order 1988(10)

(d) the Disability Discrimination Act 1995;

(e) the Race Relations (Northern Ireland) Order 1997;

(f) the Fair Employment and Treatment Order;

(g) the Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003; or

(h) the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006.

(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply in any proceedings where the Secretary of State has given a direction, or a tribunal has made an order, under rule 91 or 92 (national security); and either the Security Service, the Secret Intelligence Service or the Government Communications Headquarters is a party to the proceedings.

Application of this Schedule to levy appeals

101.  For the purposes of an appeal against an assessment to a levy imposed under Article 23 of the Industrial Training (Northern Ireland) Order 1984(11) (“a levy appeal”), references in this Schedule to a claim or claimant shall be read as references to a levy appeal or to an appellant in a levy appeal respectively.

Application of this Schedule to appeals against improvement and prohibition notices

102.—(1) A person (“the appellant”) may appeal an improvement notice under Article 23 of the Health and Safety Order or a prohibition notice under Article 24 of that Order by presenting a claim to the tribunal office before the end of the period of 21 days beginning with the date of the service on the appellant of the notice which is the subject of the appeal.

(2) For the purposes of such an appeal, this Schedule shall be treated as modified in the following way—

(a) references to a claim or claimant shall be read as references to an appeal or to an appellant in an appeal respectively;

(b) references to a respondent shall be read as references to the inspector appointed under Article 21(1) of the Health and Safety Order who issued the notice which is the subject of the appeal.

(3) For the purposes of this rule and its application to this Schedule, “Health and Safety Order” means the Health and Safety at Work (Northern Ireland) Order 1978(12).

Application of this Schedule to appeals against directions, non-discrimination notices and notices of refusal

103.—(1) For the purposes of an appeal against directions, a non-discrimination notice or a notice of refusal, this Schedule shall be treated as modified in the following ways—

(a) references to a claim or claimant shall be read as references to a notice of appeal or to an appellant in an appeal against directions, a non-discrimination notice or a notice of refusal respectively (as the case may require);

(b) references to a respondent shall be read as references to the Commission.

(2) For the purposes of this rule and its application to this Schedule—

“directions” means directions given by the Commission under Article 12, 13, 14(4) or 57 of the Fair Employment and Treatment Order or substituted by the tribunal under Article 15 of that Order;

“non-discrimination notice” means a notice under Article 67 of the Sex Discrimination (Northern Ireland) Order 1976, Article 55 of the Race Relations (Northern Ireland) Order 1997, Article 6 of the Equality (Disability, etc.) (Northern Ireland) Order 2000(13) or regulation 37 of the Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006(14);

“notice of refusal” means a notice served by the Commission under Article 62(7) or 63(5) of the Fair Employment and Treatment Order.

Application of this Schedule to applications for enforcement of an undertaking or directions

104.—(1) For the purposes of an application under Article 16(1) (enforcement of an undertaking or directions) or 16(7)(b) (enforcement of an order under Article 16(3)(a)) of the Fair Employment and Treatment Order—

(a) any reference to a claim shall be read as a reference to an application;

(b) any reference to a claimant shall be read as a reference to the Commission;

(c) any reference to a respondent shall be read as a reference to the person who gave the undertaking, was given the directions or against whom an order was made (as the case may require).

(2) For the purposes of an application under Article 16(8)(a) (to revoke or vary the terms of an order under Article 16(3)) of the Fair Employment and Treatment Order—

(a) any reference to a claim shall be read as a reference to an application;

(b) any reference to a claimant shall be read as a reference to the applicant;

(c) any reference to a respondent shall be read—

(i) if the applicant is the Commission, as a reference to the person against whom the order was made; and

(ii) if the applicant is the person against whom the order was made, as a reference to the Commission.

(3) For the purposes of this rule and its application to this Schedule—

“directions” means directions given by the Commission under Articles 12, 13, 14 or 57 of the Fair Employment and Treatment Order or substituted by the Fair Employment Tribunal under Article 15 of that Order;

“undertaking”, except for the purposes of rule 44(1)(c)(iii), means an undertaking given to the Commission under Article 12, 13 or 57 of the Fair Employment and Treatment Order,

and any reference to Article 15 or 16 of the Fair Employment and Treatment Order (appeals and legal proceedings in relation to undertakings and directions) includes reference to those provisions as they are applied for the purposes of Articles 57 and 58 by Article 59 of that Order.

(1)

S.I. 1976/1042 (N.I. 15); Article 77A was inserted by S.I. 1988/1303 (N.I. 13), Article 11 and paragraph (4A) by S.I. 1993/2668 (N.I. 11), Article 11.

(2)

1995 c. 50; Schedule 3A was inserted by S.R. 2004 No. 55, regulation 16(2).

(3)

S.I. 1997/869 (N.I. 6); Article 68B was inserted by regulation 53 of S.R. 2003 No. 341, regulation 53.

(4)

S.R. 2003 No. 497.

(5)

S.R. 2006 No. 261.

(6)

1998 c. 47.

(7)

O.J. No. C83, 30.03.10, p. 47.

(8)

1978 c. 23.

(9)

1970 c. 32 (N.I.).

(10)

S.I. 1988/1303 (N.I. 13).

(11)

S.I. 1984/1159 (N.I. 9).

(12)

S.I. 1978/1039 (N.I. 9).

(13)

S.I. 2000/1110 (N.I. 2).

(14)

S.R. 2006 No. 439.