The Employment Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) Regulations 2001

Notices, etc

23.—(1) Any notice given under these rules shall be in writing.

(2) All notices and documents required by these rules to be presented to the Secretary, other than an originating application, may be presented at the Office of the Tribunals or such other office as may be notified by the Secretary to the parties.

(3) An originating application may be presented at the Office of the Tribunals or at any Regional Office of the Employment Tribunals.

(4) All notices and documents required or authorised by these rules to be sent or given to any person hereinafter mentioned may be sent by post (subject to paragraph (6)) or delivered to or at—

(a) in the case of a notice or document directed to the Secretary of State in proceedings to which he is not a party (or in respect of which he is treated as a party for the purpose of these rules by virtue of rule 10(7)), the offices of the Department of Trade and Industry (Employment Relations Directorate 2) at 1 Victoria Street, London, SW1H 0ET, or such other office as may be notified by the Secretary of State;

(b) in the case of a notice or document directed to the Attorney General pursuant to rule 18, the Attorney General’s Chambers, 9 Buckingham Gate, London, SW1E 7JP;

(c) in the case of a notice or document directed to the National Assembly for Wales pursuant to rule 18, the Counsel General to the National Assembly for Wales, Crown Buildings, Cathays Park, Cardiff, CF10 3NQ;

(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 his originating application or notice of appearance 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 a Regional Chairman 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 deemed to have been sent or given to that party.

(5) A party may at any time by notice to the Secretary 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.

(6) The recorded delivery service shall be used instead of the ordinary post—

(a) when a second set of notices or documents is sent to a respondent who has not entered an appearance under rule 3(1); and

(b) for service of an order made under rule 4(5).

(7) The President or a Regional Chairman may direct that there shall be substituted service in such manner as he may deem fit in any case he considers appropriate.

(8) In proceedings brought under the provisions of any enactment providing for conciliation the Secretary shall send copies of all documents and notices to a conciliation officer who in the opinion of the Secretary is an appropriate officer to receive them.

(9) Paragraph (8) does not apply in relation to documents or notices falling within a description of documents or notices in respect of which the Secretary and the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service have agreed that copies need not be sent.

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

(11) Copies of every document and copy entry sent to the parties under rules 12(5) or 12(9) shall—

(a) in the case of proceedings under the 1970 Act, the 1975 Act or the 1986 Act, be sent to the Equal Opportunities Commission;

(b) in the case of proceedings under the 1976 Act, be sent to the Commission for Racial Equality; and

(c) in the case of proceedings under the 1995 Act, be sent to the Disability Rights Commission.