In support of a discrimination claim the claimant sought permission to adduce in evidence 39 hours’ worth of covert recordings which she had made of conversations between herself and her managers or colleagues. The application was refused. On appeal, it was held that the Judge had been plainly right to refuse the application as made, since neither the recordings themselves nor any transcripts had been made available. However, it was open to the claimant to make a more focused application, properly supported by transcripts of the material sought to be relied on.

It was held that covert recordings, of themselves, are not inadmissible, no matter how wrong they might seem to some: “the practice of making secret recordings in this way is, to put it no higher, very distasteful…The law is now established that covert recordings are not inadmissible simply because the way in which they were taken may be regarded as discreditable.” http://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKEAT/2013/0534_12_0102.html