Keywords: Tribunal Procedures; Anonymity Order
A Pre-Hearing Review was arranged to determine the question of whether the claimant’s identity should be protected by an Order of permanent anonymity.
The claimant was formerly a serving prison officer and made the application based on Article 2 (Right to Life) and Article 8 (Right to Respect for Private and Family Life) of the European Convention on Human Rights, arising from reference to her job, age and residence in various newspaper articles and websites. She had always followed the advice of the respondent to keep her role as a prison officer confidential and, in particular, the area where she lived. She argued that serious concerns existed as to her safety and that of her family.
The tribunal recognised that any application must be supported with ‘clear and cogent evidence’ and that the burden falls on the party seeking the Order. It accepted that the claimant’s Convention Rights were engaged and found that she established the necessary grounds to justify an encroachment of the principal of open justice. On the facts of the case, a permanent anonymity Order was required to be made.
Practical Lessons
In reviewing the relevant case law, the tribunal reminded itself of the ‘fundamental principle’ of open justice but also of the particularly sensitive circumstances of Northern Ireland.
In GB, Rule 50 of the 2013 Employment Tribunal Rules gives tribunals extended powers in relation to privacy and restrictions on disclosure.
While Rule 50 does not apply in Northern Ireland, the tribunal recognised that the established case law permits an industrial tribunal to control the conduct of proceedings using its inherent jurisdiction. In other words, the situation re anonymisation in GB and NI does not appear to differ in practice, as tribunals will still adopt the principle of open justice as their starting point and then conduct a balancing exercise of competing rights.
This case review was written by John Taggart BL. NI Tribunal decisions are available on the OITFET website
http://www.employmenttribunalsni.co.uk/
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