Employment Appeal Tribunal decides questions of law

It bore repetition that in unfair dismissal disputes it was for the employer to take the decision whether or not to dismiss an employee; for the employment tribunal to find the facts and decide whether, on an objective basis, the dismissal was fair or unfair; and for the Employment Appeal Tribunal (and the ordinary courts hearing employment appeals) to decide whether a question of law arose from the proceedings in the employment tribunal. As appellate tribunals and courts were confined to questions of law they ought not, in the absence of an error of law (including perversity), take over the employment tribunal’s role as an “industrial jury” with a fund of relevant and diverse specialist expertise.