More than 300 doctors, journalists and whistleblowers have called for employment tribunal proceedings to be recorded and official transcripts provided to parties to improve fairness and access to justice.

Signatories of a letter sent to Judge Barry Clarke, president of the employment tribunal services in England and Wales, say that an 'accurate and complete court record is a fundamental prerequisite and basis for a fair trial'. But, they argue, the lack of an independent and complete transcript is a 'serious shortcoming' in the system.

At present, no official recording or transcripts are made of proceedings in the employment tribunal, and any person making one faces charges for contempt of court.

Current arrangements, the letter argues, mean that well-resourced defendants who can afford to employ a professional note-taker have a 'considerable advantage' over claimants, who are often representing themselves and rely on 'memory and incomplete notes'.

Judges’ notes are regarded as the official record and are made available to employment appeal tribunals, but they are seen as private documents and are not available to the parties.

If the judgment that follows a hearing omits substantial elements of oral evidence that support the claimant’s case, the prospects of a successful appeal are hampered without a court record.

'This imbalance irretrievably denies parties the right to prepare adequately an appeal and it is manifestly unfair,' the letter states. Reference to the full record 'is the only way to determine whether the decision made was fair and proper'.

Signatories include Sir Adam Ridley, a former senior civil servant at 10 Downing Street and the pioneering cardiologist Jane Somerville of Imperial College, London.

A spokesperson for the judiciary said: 'The letter has been received and is being reviewed.'

Barrister Sophie Walker, founder of the company Just Transcription, told the Gazette: 'Providing litigants and their legal teams recordings and automated transcripts of the hearing would be a major leap forward for open justice and access to justice.' 

 

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