Bias of Lay Tribunal Members

Scanfuture UK Ltd v Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (EAT TLR 26 April)

Given the Secretary of State’s wide ranging powers to grant, terminate and renew the appointment of lay members of an employment tribunal and to prescribe the level of remuneration they receive, it was clear that a fair minded observer would have held an objectively justifiable fear that the tribunal hearing the claimant’s claim against the Secretary of State for payment from the National Insurance Fund was neither impartial or independent. Accordingly the tribunal had failed to satisfy the test of independence prescribed by the Human Rights Act 1998 Schedule 1 Part I Article 6. However, since 1999, sufficient procedural safeguards have been introduced to ensure that any such fears are now groundless.