The Fair Employment and Treatment (Northern Ireland) Order 1998

Conciliation N.I.

88.—(1) Where a complaint is presented to the Tribunal under Article 38, the Tribunal shall send a copy of the complaint to the Agency and it shall be the duty of the Agency—

(a) if it is requested to do so by both the complainant and the respondent; or

(b) if, in the absence of any such request, the Agency considers that it could act under this paragraph with a reasonable prospect of success,

to endeavour to promote a settlement of the complaint without its being determined by the Tribunal.

[F1 (1A) Where regulations under Article 84 include provision postponing the fixing of a time and place for a hearing for the purpose of giving an opportunity for the proceedings to be settled by way of conciliation and withdrawn—

(a) paragraph (1) shall have effect from the end of the postponement to confer a power on the Agency, instead of imposing a duty; and

(b) the regulations shall also include provision for the parties to proceedings to which the provision for postponement applies to be notified that the services of the Agency may no longer be available to them after the end of the postponement.]

(2) Where, before a complaint has been presented to the Tribunal, a request is made to the Agency to make its services available in the matter by a person who, if the complaint were so presented, would be the complainant or respondent, paragraph (1) applies as if the complaint had been so presented and a copy of it had been sent to the Agency.

(3) In proceeding under paragraph (1) or (2), the Agency shall where appropriate have regard to the desirability of encouraging the use of other procedures available for the settlement of grievances.

(4) Anything communicated to the Agency in connection with the performance of its functions under this Article shall not be admissible in evidence in any proceedings before the Tribunal except with the consent of the person who communicated it to the Agency.

F1 2003 NI 15