233.The Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) is an independent public body established by the Employment Protection Act 1975. Its constitution is laid down in sections 259-265 of the 1992 Act. The CAC’s functions are currently to determine statutory claims from trade unions relating to the disclosure of information for collective bargaining purposes and to provide voluntary arbitration in trade disputes between employers and trade unions. In the three years from 1995 to 1997, the CAC received seventy applications to exercise its functions concerning the disclosure of information for collective bargaining purposes and no requests to arbitrate in trade disputes. The CAC currently has three Deputy Chairmen and eight panel members, representing employer and employee organisations. A new Chairman is expected to be appointed later this year.
234.Section 1 and Schedule 1 to the Act confer new functions on the CAC to administer the statutory trade union recognition and derecognition scheme and determine cases brought under it. The purpose of sections 24 and 25 is to revise some of the statutory provisions relating to the CAC to enable it to carry out these new functions. Section 24 amends the procedures for the appointment of members to the CAC and section 25 provides for amendments to the proceedings of the CAC.