UNISON have confirmed that the new judicial review of the lawfulness of the Government’s introduction of employment tribunal fees will be heard later this month at the High Court. The Lord Chancellor gave Unison the go-ahead last month to launch fresh proceedings in the light of consistent statistics from the Ministry of Justice that the number of employment tribunal claims has fallen dramatically since the introduction of fees for claimants. Prior to the introduction of fees in July 2013, the employment tribunals received, on average, 48,000 new claims per quarter. Figures for April to June 2014 show that there were only 8,540 new claims in this quarter, 81% fewer than the number of claims lodged in the same period in 2013. The judicial review will be heard on 21-22 October 2014. Unison general secretary Dave Prentis said: “The High Court’s decision to schedule the judicial review within a month of the union filing its claim shows just how important the issue of tribunal fees is.

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