The Employment Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) Regulations 2004

In forceThis text since 19 Jul 2004law://uk/uksi/2004/1861@2026-11-12

Contents

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1 · Citation, commencement and revocation
1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Employment Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) Regulations 2004 and the Rules of Procedure contained in Sc
2. (2) These Regulations shall come into force on 1 October 2004.
3. (3) Subject to the savings in regulation 20, the Employment Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) Regulations 2001 and the Employment Tribunals (Const
2 · Interpretation
3 · Overriding objective
1. (1) The overriding objective of these regulations and the rules in Schedules 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 is to enable tribunals and chairmen to deal with cases justly.
2. (2) Dealing with a case justly includes, so far as practicable: —
3. (3) A tribunal or chairman shall seek to give effect to the overriding objective when it or he: —
4. (4) The parties shall assist the tribunal or the chairman to further the overriding objective.
4 · President of Employment Tribunals
1. (1) There shall be a President of Employment Tribunals (England and Wales), responsible for the administration of justice by tribunals and chairmen in England a
2. (2) There shall be a President of Employment Tribunals (Scotland), responsible for the administration of justice by tribunals and chairmen in Scotland, who shal
3. (3) A President shall be a person: —
4. (4) A President may resign his office by notice in writing to the appointing office holder.
5. (5) If the appointing office holder is satisfied that the President is incapacitated by infirmity of mind or body from discharging the duties of his office, or
6. (6) The functions of President under these Regulations may, if he is for any reason unable to act or during any vacancy in his office, be discharged by a person
5 · Establishment of employment tribunals
1. (1) Each President shall, in relation to that part of Great Britain for which he has responsibility, from time to time determine the number of tribunals to be e
2. (2) The President, a Regional Chairman or the Vice President shall determine, in relation to the area specified in relation to him, at what times and in what pl
6 · Regional Chairmen
1. (1) The Lord Chancellor may from time to time appoint Regional Chairmen from the panel of full-time chairmen and each Regional Chairman shall be responsible to
2. (2) The President (England and Wales) or the Regional Chairman for an area may from time to time nominate a member of the panel of full time chairmen to dischar
7 · Vice President
1. (1) The Lord President may from time to time appoint a Vice President from the panel of full time chairmen and the Vice President shall be responsible to the Pr
2. (2) The President (Scotland) or the Vice President may from time to time nominate a member of the panel of full time chairmen to discharge for the time being th
8 · Panels of members of tribunals – general
1. (1) There shall be three panels of members of Employment Tribunals (England and Wales), as set out in paragraph (3).
2. (2) There shall be three panels of members of Employment Tribunals (Scotland), as set out in paragraph (3).
3. (3) The panels referred to in paragraphs (1) and (2) are:—
4. (4) Members of the panels constituted under these Regulations shall hold and vacate office under the terms of the instrument under which they are appointed but
5. (5) The President may establish further specialist panels of chairmen and persons referred to in paragraphs (3)(b) and (c) and may select persons from such spec
9 · Composition of tribunals - general
1. (1) For each hearing, the President, Vice President or the Regional Chairman shall select a chairman, who shall, subject to regulation 11, be a member of the pa
2. (2) In any proceedings which are to be determined by a tribunal comprising a chairman and two other members, the President, Regional Chairman or Vice President
3. (3) In any proceedings which are to be determined by a tribunal whose composition is described in paragraph (2) or, as the case may be, regulation 11(b), those
4. (4) The President, Vice President, or a Regional Chairman may at any time select from the appropriate panel another person in substitution for the chairman or o
10 · Panels of members of tribunals – national security proceedings
1. (a) select a panel of persons from the panel of chairmen to act as chairmen in such cases; and
2. (b) select:–
11 · Composition of tribunals – national security proceedings
1. (a) the President, the Regional Chairman or the Vice President shall select a chairman, who shall be a member of the panel selected in accordance with regulatio
2. (b) in any such proceedings which are to be determined by a tribunal comprising a chairman and two other members, the President, Regional Chairman or Vice Presi
12 · Modification of section 4 of the Employment Tribunals Act (national security proceedings)
1. (1) For the purposes of national security proceedings section 4 of the Employment Tribunals Act shall be modified as follows.
2. (2) In section 4(1)(a), for the words “in accordance with regulations made under section 1(1)” substitute the words “in accordance with regulation 11(a) of the
3. (3) In section 4(1)(b), for the words “in accordance with regulations so made” substitute the words “in accordance with regulation 11(b) of those Regulations”.
4. (4) In section 4(5), for the words “in accordance with Regulations made under section 1(1)” substitute the words “in accordance with regulation 10(a) of the Emp
13 · Practice directions
1. (1) The President may make practice directions about the procedure of employment tribunals in the area for which he is responsible, including practice direction
2. (2) The power of the President to make practice directions under paragraph (1) includes power:–
3. (3) The President shall publish a practice direction made under paragraph (1), and any revocation or variation of it, in such manner as he considers appropriate
14 · Power to prescribe
1. (1) The Secretary of State may prescribe —
2. (2) The Secretary of State shall publish the forms and matters prescribed pursuant to paragraph (1) in such manner as she considers appropriate in order to brin
3. (3) The proceedings referred to in paragraph (1) are:—
15 · Calculation of time limits
1. (1) Any period of time for doing any act required or permitted to be done under any of the rules in Schedules 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, or under any decision, order or
2. (2) Where any act must or may be done within a certain number of days of or from an event, the date of that event shall not be included in the calculation. For
3. (3) Where any act must or may be done not less than a certain number of days before or after an event, the date of that event shall not be included in the calcu
4. (4) Where the tribunal or a chairman gives any decision, order or judgment which imposes a time limit for doing any act, the last date for compliance shall, whe
5. (5) In rule 14(4) of Schedule 1 the requirement to send the notice of hearing to the parties not less than 14 days before the date fixed for the hearing shall n
6. (6) Where any act must or may have been done within a certain number of days of a document being sent to a person by the Secretary, the date when the document w
16 · Application of Schedules 1-5 to proceedings
1. (1) Subject to paragraphs (2) and (3), the rules in Schedule 1 shall apply in relation to all proceedings before an employment tribunal except where separate ru
2. (2) In proceedings to which the rules in Schedule 1 apply and in which any power conferred on the Minister, the tribunal or a chairman by rule 54 (national secu
3. (3) The rules in Schedules 3, 4 and 5 shall apply to modify the rules in Schedule 1 in relation to proceedings which consist, respectively, in:—
17 · Register
1. (1) The Secretary shall maintain a Register which shall be open to the inspection of any person without charge at all reasonable hours.
2. (2) The Register shall contain a copy of all judgments and any written reasons issued by any tribunal or chairman which are required to be entered in the Regist
3. (3) The Register, or any part of it, may be kept by means of a computer.
18 · Proof of decisions of tribunals
19 · Jurisdiction of tribunals in Scotland and in England & Wales
1. (1) An employment tribunal in England or Wales shall only have jurisdiction to deal with proceedings (referred to as “English and Welsh proceedings”) where —
2. (2) An employment tribunal in Scotland shall only have jurisdiction to deal with proceedings (referred to as “Scottish proceedings”) where —
20 · Transitional provisions
1. (1) These Regulations and Schedules 1 to 5 to them shall apply in relation to all proceedings to which they relate where those proceedings were commenced on or
2. (2) These Regulations and Schedules 1 and 2 to them (with the exception of rules 1 to 3 and 38 to 48 of Schedule 1) shall apply to proceedings:— provided that a
3. (3) In relation to the proceedings described in paragraph (2), the following provisions of Schedule 1 to the old (England & Wales) regulations or the old (Scotl
4. (4) In relation to proceedings described in paragraph (2) but where a copy of the originating application was sent to the respondent prior to 1 October 2004, Sc
5. (5) In relation to proceedings described in paragraph (4), the following provisions of the old (England & Wales) regulations or the old (Scotland) regulations (
6. (6) In relation to proceedings commenced prior to 1 October 2004 and to which Schedule 4, 5 or 6 to the old (England & Wales) regulations or the old (Scotland)
Schedule 1 · The employment tribunals rules of procedure
1. How to bring a claim
2. Acceptance of claim procedure
3. Response
4. Acceptance of response procedure
5. Consequences of a response not being presented or accepted
6. Case management
7. Different types of hearing
8. Case management discussions
9. Pre-hearing reviews
10. Payment of a deposit
11. Conciliation
12. Withdrawal of proceedings
13. The hearing
14. Orders, judgments and reasons
15. Power to review judgments and decisions
16. Costs orders and orders for expenses
17. Preparation time orders
18. Wasted costs orders against representatives
19. Powers in relation to specific types of proceedings
20. General provisions
Schedule 2 · The employment tribunals (national security) rules of procedure
1. (1) Application of Schedule 2
2. (2) Notification of national security proceedings
3. (3) Responding to a claim
4. (4) Serving of documents by the Secretary
5. (5) Default judgment
6. (6) Witness orders and disclosure of documents
7. (7) Case management discussions and pre-hearing reviews
8. (8) Special advocate
9. (9) Hearings
10. (10) Reasons in national security proceedings
11. (11) Correction of written reasons
12. (12) Review of judgments or decisions
Schedule 3 · The employment tribunals (levy appeals) rules of procedure
1. For use only in proceedings on levy appeals
Schedule 4 · THE EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNALS (HEALTH AND SAFETY – APPEALS AGAINST IMPROVEMENT AND PROHIBITION NOTICES) RULES OF PROCEDURE For use only in proceedings in an appeal against an improvement or prohibition notice
1. (1) Application of Schedule 1
2. (2) Definitions
3. (3) Notice of appeal
4. (4) Time limit for bringing appeal
5. (5) Action on receipt of appeal
6. (6) Application for a direction suspending the operation of a prohibition notice
7. (7) General power to manage proceedings
8. (8) Appointment of an assessor
9. (9) Right to withdraw proceedings
10. (10) Costs and expenses
11. (11) Provisions of Schedule 1 which do not apply to appeals against improvement notices or prohibition notices
12. (12) Modification of Schedule 1
Schedule 5 · THE EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNALS (NON-DISCRIMINATION NOTICES APPEALS) RULES OF PROCEDURE For use only in proceedings in an appeal against a non-discrimination notice
1. (1) Application of Schedule 1
2. (2) Definitions
3. (3) Notice of Appeal
4. (4) Action on receipt of appeal
5. (5) Provisions of Schedule 1 which do not apply to appeals against non-discrimination notices
6. (6) Modification of Schedule 1

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Key facts

Type: Statutory instrument · UKSI 2004/1861
Made by: UK Government (statutory instrument)
Extent: England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland

History · 1 version

19 Jul 2004Reading

Connections

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Amended by 25: The Public Bodies (Abolition of Administrative Justice and Tribunals Council) Order 2013; The Financial Services Act 2012 (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Order 2013; The Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 (Consequential Amendments) Order 2012; The Treaty of Lisbon (Changes in Terminology or Numbering) Order 2012; The Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010 (Consequential Modifications of Enactments) Order 2011; The Treaty of Lisbon (Changes in Terminology) Order 2011; The Equality Act 2010 (Commencement No. 4, Savings, Consequential, Transitional, Transitory and Incidental Provisions and Revocation) Order 2010; Constitutional Reform Act 2005; The Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 (Consequential Amendments) (Employment) Order 2013; The NHS Commissioning Board Authority (Abolition and Transfer of Staff, Property and Liabilities) and the Health and Social Care Act 2012 (Consequential Amendments) Order 2012; The Health and Social Care Act 2012 (Consequential Provision—Social Workers) Order 2012; The Employment Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) (Amendment) Regulations 2012; The Budget Responsibility and National Audit Act 2011 (Consequential Amendments) Order 2012; The Employment Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) (Amendment) Regulations 2010; The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills Order 2009; The Employment Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) (Amendment) Regulations 2008; The Employment Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) (Amendment) Regulations 2008; The Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 (Transitional and Consequential Provisions) Order 2008; The Secretaries of State for Children, Schools and Families, for Innovation, Universities and Skills and for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Order 2007; The Equality Act 2006 (Dissolution of Commissions and Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Order 2007; The Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) (Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2006; The Lord Chancellor (Transfer of Functions and Supplementary Provisions) Order 2006; The Employment Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2005; The Employment Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) (Amendment) Regulations 2005; The Employment Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) (Amendment) Regulations 2004
Repealed by 1: The Employment Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) Regulations 2013
Repeals 2: The Employment Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) Regulations 2001; The Employment Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) (Scotland) Regulations 2001
Applied by 1: The Biocidal Products and Chemicals (Appointment of Authorities and Enforcement) Regulations 2013

Defined terms · 47

Show every defined term

ACAS
means the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service referred to in section 247 of TULR(C)A;
appointing office holder
means, in England and Wales, the Lord Chancellor, and in Scotland, the Lord President;
Board
means in relation to an appeal the respondent industrial training board;
chairman
means the President or a member of the panel of chairmen appointed in accordance with regulation 8(3)(a), or, for the purposes of national security proceedings, a member of the panel referred to in regulation 10 selected in accordance with regulation 11(a), and in relation to particular proceedings it means the chairman to whom the proceedings have been referred by the President, Vice President or a Regional Chairman;
civil proceedings
means legal proceedings brought by any person against another person in which it is to be determined whether an act of that other person, which induced the claimant to commit an act, or each of a series of acts, is by virtue of section 219 of TULR(C)A not actionable in tort or in delict;
compromise agreement
means an agreement to refrain from continuing proceedings where the agreement meets the conditions in section 203(3) of the Employment Rights Act;
constructive dismissal
has the meaning set out in section 95(1)(c) of the Employment Rights Act;
costs
shall mean fees, charges, disbursements, expenses or remuneration incurred by or on behalf of a party in relation to the proceedings.
Disability Discrimination Act
means the Disability Discrimination Act 1995;
Disability Rights Commission Act
means the Disability Rights Commission Act 1999;
electronic communication
has the meaning given to it by section 15(1) of the Electronic Communications Act 2000;
Employment Act
means the Employment Act 2002;
Employment Rights Act
means the Employment Rights Act 1996;
Employment Tribunal Office
means any office which has been established for any area in either England & Wales or Scotland specified by the President and which carries out administrative functions in support of functions being carried out by a tribunal or chairman, and in relation to particular proceedings it is the office notified to the parties in accordance with rule 61(3) of Schedule 1;
Employment Tribunals Act
means the Employment Tribunals Act 1996;
enactment
includes an enactment comprised in, or in an instrument made under, an Act of the Scottish Parliament;
Equal Pay Act
means the Equal Pay Act 1970;
excluded person
means, in relation to any proceedings, a person who has been excluded from all or part of the proceedings by virtue of:– (a) a direction of a Minister of the Crown under rule 54(1)(b) or (c) of Schedule 1, or (b) an order of the tribunal under rule 54(2)(a) read with 54(1)(b) or (c) of Schedule 1;
Health and Safety Act
means the Health and Safety at Work etc.
hearing
means a case management discussion, pre-hearing review, review hearing or Hearing (as those terms are defined in Schedule 1) or a sitting of a chairman or a tribunal duly constituted for the purpose of receiving evidence, hearing addresses and witnesses or doing anything lawful to enable the chairman or tribunal to reach a decision on any question;
improvement notice
means a notice under section 21 of the Health and Safety Act;
Industrial Training Act
means the Industrial Training Act 1982;
inspector
means a person appointed under section 19(1) of the Health and Safety Act;
legally represented
has the meaning set out in rule 38(5) of Schedule 1;
levy
means a levy imposed under section 11 of the Industrial Training Act;
levy appeal
means an appeal against an assessment to a levy;
Lord President
means the Lord President of the Court of Session;
misconceived
includes having no reasonable prospect of success;
national security proceedings
means proceedings in relation to which a direction is given under rule 54(1) of Schedule 1, or an order is made under rule 54(2) of that Schedule;
non-discrimination notice
means a notice under section 67 of the Sex Discrimination Act, under section 58 of the Race Relations Act or, as the case may be, under section 4 of the Disability Rights Commission Act;
old (England & Wales) regulations
means the Employment Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) (Scotland) Regulations 2001;
old (Scotland) regulations
means the Employment Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) Regulations 2001;
panel of chairmen
means a panel referred to in regulation 8(3)(a);
President
means, in England and Wales, the person appointed or nominated by the Lord Chancellor to discharge for the time being the functions of the President of Employment Tribunals (England and Wales), and, in Scotland, the person appointed or nominated by the Lord President to discharge for the time being the functions of the President of Employment Tribunals (Scotland);
prohibition notice
means a notice under section 22 of the Health and Safety Act;
Race Relations Act
means the Race Relations Act 1976;
Regional Chairman
means a member of the panel of chairmen who has been appointed to the position of Regional Chairman in accordance with regulation 6 or who has been nominated to discharge the functions of a Regional Chairman in accordance with regulation 6;
Register
means the Register of judgments and written reasons kept in accordance with regulation 17;
representative
means a party’s legal or other representative or any employee of such representative, but it does not include a representative who is not acting in pursuit of profit with regard to those proceedings.
respondent
means the Equal Opportunities Commission established under section 53 of the Sex Discrimination Act, the Commission for Racial Equality established under section 43 of the Race Relations Act or, as the case may be, the Disability Rights Commission established under section 1 of the Disability Rights Commission Act.
Secretary
means a person for the time being appointed to act as the Secretary of employment tribunals either in England and Wales or in Scotland;
Sex Discrimination Act
means the Sex Discrimination Act 1975;
special advocate
means a person appointed in accordance with rule 8 of Schedule 2;
tribunal
means an employment tribunal established in accordance with regulation 5, and in relation to any proceedings means the tribunal to which the proceedings have been referred by the President, Vice President or a Regional Chairman;
Vice President
means a person who has been appointed to the position of Vice President in accordance with regulation 7 or who has been nominated to discharge the functions of the Vice President in accordance with that regulation;
Wasted costs
means any costs incurred by a party: —
writing
includes writing delivered by means of electronic communication.