“Supreme Court strikes down employment tribunal fees as barrier to justice”
In 2013, the Lord Chancellor introduced fees for bringing claims in employment tribunals, ranging from £390 to £1,200. UNISON challenged these fees, arguing they prevented workers from accessing justice. Evidence showed a dramatic 70% fall in tribunal claims after the fees were introduced.
Whether the employment tribunal fees order was unlawful as it effectively denied access to justice, particularly for low-paid workers, and whether it indirectly discriminated against women.
The fees order was unlawful and quashed. The fees effectively prevented access to justice and were indirectly discriminatory against women who brought the majority of certain types of claims.
This case reinforced the fundamental constitutional principle of access to justice and established clear limits on government power to impose court fees that effectively bar access to the courts.
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OSCOLA Citation
R (Unison) v Lord Chancellor [2017] UKSC 51, [2017] 3 WLR 409
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