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

What the tribunal does after receiving the claim

2.—(1) On receiving the claim the Secretary shall consider whether the claim or part of it should be accepted in accordance with rule 3. If a claim or part of one is not accepted the tribunal shall not proceed to deal with any part which has not been accepted (unless it is accepted at a later date). If no part of a claim is accepted the claim shall not be copied to the respondent.

(2) If the Secretary accepts the claim or part of it, he shall –

(a) send a copy of the claim to each respondent and record in writing the date on which it was sent;

(b) inform the parties in writing of the case number of the claim (which must from then on be referred to in all correspondence relating to the claim) and the address to which notices and other communications to the Office of the Tribunals must be sent;

(c) inform the respondent in writing about how to present a response to the claim, the time limit for doing so, what may happen if a response is not entered within the time limit and that the respondent has a right to receive a copy of any decision disposing of the claim;

(d) when any statutory provision relevant to the claim provides for conciliation, notify the parties that the services of a conciliation officer are available to them;

(e) when rule 22 (fixed period for conciliation) applies, notify the parties of the date on which the Agency’s duty to conciliate ends and that after that date the services of a conciliation officer shall be available to them only if the Agency chooses to exercise its power to continue to conciliate;

(f) if only part of the claim has been accepted, inform the claimant and any respondent which parts of the claim have not been accepted and that the tribunal shall not proceed to deal with those parts unless they are accepted at a later date;

(g) enter the following details of the claim in the Register (subject to rule 49) –

(i) the case number;

(ii) the date the Secretary received the claim (on this occasion);

(iii) the name of each claimant;

(iv) the name of each respondent;

(v) the type of claim brought in general terms without reference to detail.