Industrial Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations.)

These Regulations amend the Industrial Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996 prescribing the procedural rules for proceedings before industrial tribunals in Northern Ireland.

The Regulations come into operation on 3rd November 1996 except for regulations 9 and 11 which relate to proceedings under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (“the 1995 Act”) which come into operation on 2nd December 1996; that is to say, the date on which section 8 of the 1995 Act comes into force, when it becomes possible to take proceedings against employers under the 1995 Act.

The Regulations make the following principal changes—

(a) a notice of appearance must be presented within 21 days of the respondent receiving a copy of the applicant’s originating application instead of 14 days;

(b) tribunals are required to give extended reasons for their decisions in proceedings brought under the 1995 Act;

(c) tribunals are enabled to make restricted reporting orders in proceedings under the 1995 Act;

(d) the procedure applying in equal value cases to the appointment of an expert and the preparation of an expert’s report is amended so that—

(i) the amendment to section 2A of the Equal Pay Act (Northern Ireland) 1970 made by the Equal Pay (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996 having the effect that the tribunal does not have to appoint an expert before determining whether work is of equal value, is reflected in the rules of procedure;

(ii) the tribunal is required to set a date by which an expert’s report is required to be sent to it; and

(iii) a party whom the tribunal finds to have delayed the preparation of an expert’s report unreasonably will either have an award of costs made against him or have his originating application struck out.

Regulation 27 contains transitional provisions.