The Industrial Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005

General provisions

Powers

59.—(1) Subject to the provisions of these Rules and any practice directions, a tribunal or chairman may regulate its or his own procedure.

(2) At a hearing under rule 26 or a pre-hearing review held in accordance with rule 18(3) a tribunal may make any order which a chairman has power to make under these Rules, subject to compliance with any relevant notice or other procedural requirements.

(3) Any function of the Secretary may be performed by a person acting with the authority of the Secretary.

Notices, etc.

60.—(1) Any notice given or document sent under these Rules shall (unless a chairman or tribunal orders otherwise) be in writing and may be given or sent –

(a) by post;

(b) by fax or other means of electronic communication;

(c) through a document exchange in accordance with paragraph (6); or

(d) by personal delivery.

(2) Where a notice or document has been given or sent in accordance with paragraph (1), that notice or document shall, unless the contrary is proved, be taken to have been received by the party to whom it is addressed –

(a) in the case of a notice or document given or sent by post, on the day on which the notice or document would be delivered in the ordinary course of post;

(b) in the case of a notice or document transmitted by fax or other means of electronic communication, on the day on which the notice or document is transmitted;

(c) in the case of a notice or document which is left at a document exchange in accordance with paragraph (6), on the second business day following the day on which it is left; and

(d) in the case of a notice or document delivered in person, on the day on which the notice or document is delivered.

(3) All notices and documents required by these Rules to be presented to the Secretary or the Office of the Tribunals, other than a claim, shall be presented at the Office of the Tribunals or such other office as notified by the Secretary to the parties.

(4) All notices and documents required or authorised by these Rules to be sent or given to any person listed below may be sent to or delivered at –

(a) in the case of a notice or document directed to the Department in proceedings to which it is not a party and which are brought under Article 205 of the Employment Rights Order, the offices of the Department for Employment and Learning at Adelaide House, 39/49 Adelaide Street, Belfast, BT2 8FD, or such other office as may be notified by the Department;

(b) in the case of any other notice or document directed to the Department in proceedings to which it is not a party (or in respect of which it is treated as a party for the purposes of these Rules by rule 51), the offices of the Department for Employment and Learning at Adelaide House, 39/49 Adelaide Street, Belfast, BT2 8FD, or such other office as may be notified by the Department;

(c) in the case of a notice or document directed to the Attorney General for Northern Ireland under rule 56, the Attorney General’s Chambers, 9 Buckingham Gate, London, SW1E 7JP;

(d) in the case of a notice or document directed to a court, the office of the clerk of the court;

(e) in the case of a notice or document directed to a party –

(i) the address specified in the claim or response to which notices and documents are to be sent, or in a notice under paragraph (5); or

(ii) if no such address has been specified, or if a notice sent to such an address has been returned, to any other known address or place of business in the United Kingdom or, if the party is a corporate body, the body’s registered or principal office in the United Kingdom, or, in any case, such address or place outside the United Kingdom as the President or the Vice-President may allow;

(f) in the case of a notice or document directed to any person (other than a person specified in the foregoing provisions of this paragraph), his address or place of business in the United Kingdom or, if the person is a corporate body, the body’s registered or principal office in the United Kingdom;

and a notice or document sent or given to the authorised representative of a party shall be taken to have been sent or given to that party.

(5) A party may at any time by notice to the Office of the Tribunals and to the other party or parties (and, where appropriate, to the appropriate conciliation officer) change the address to which notices and documents are to be sent or transmitted.

(6) Where –

(a) the proper address for service of any notice or document required or authorised by these Rules to be sent or given to any person includes a numbered box at a document exchange; or

(b) there is inscribed on the writing paper of the party on whom the notice or document is to be served (where such party acts in person) or on the writing paper of his solicitor (where such party acts by a solicitor) a document exchange box number, and such a party or his solicitor (as the case may be) has not indicated in writing to the party serving the notice or document that he is unwilling to accept service through a document exchange,

service of the notice or document may be effected by leaving it addressed to that numbered box at that document exchange or at a document exchange which transmits documents every business day to that exchange.

(7) The President or the Vice-President may order that there shall be substituted service in such manner as he may deem fit in any case he considers appropriate.

(8) In proceedings which may involve a payment out of the Northern Ireland National Insurance Fund, the Secretary shall, where appropriate, send copies of all documents and notices to the Department whether or not it is a party.

(9) Copies of every document sent to the parties under rule 29, 30 or 32 shall in the case of proceedings under the Equal Pay Act, the Sex Discrimination Order, the Sex Discrimination (Northern Ireland) Order 1988(1), the Disability Discrimination Act, the Race Relations Order or the Sexual Orientation Regulations, be sent to the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland.

(1)

S.I. 1988/1303 (N.I. 13)