Watching my first Tribunal!

Great post, Sam. I've never witnessed one myself. Planning inquiries... well, that's another story...

Hi,

I did this a few years ago with a previous employer, went to the local ET and took our chances on the case - got someone who was claiming unfair dismissal from a well known restaurant chain who had fired him because they believed he had been stealing from the till. Didn't get to see the full resolution but saw the claimant on the stand.

There's a lot of legal speak, each side referring to 'my learned friend' which just makes the dialogue a bit harder to follow. There will be lots of referring to the evidence bundle which you won't have sight of, you just have to accept there will be information you won't be party to, won't necessarily make it less interesting.

Finally, remember you're in a court of law - dress appropriately, only leave the room at the allotted break times, turn your phone off and follow all instructions - the panel chair may well address anyone in public attendance to make sure you know what's allowed.

Have fun!
Andrea

Thanks Andrea - I'll be suited and booted tomorrow for sure.

I'll let you know how it goes, the case is racial discrimination, unfair dismissal, and victimisation due to race according to the listings. Respondent is a solicitor, which will be interesting!

Ah, you will enjoy it, but do be prepared for them to settle outside of the Tribunal before it starts. This does happen quite a bit and is frustrating if you are there to observe.

I watched one as part of my CIPD course. Quite a few of us went and i did feel slightly sorry for the employer who caught sight of our grimaces as he tried to argue that he didn't have to pay a contractual bonus to an employee if he didn't want to because he was the boss and could do what he wanted to do.

Unsurprisingly, the claimant won!

I have since attended a couple as an employer called witness and one actually presenting the employers case (they let me have a go as it was relatively low cost if we lost), which was a fabulous experience (we won)

Hope you enjoy it

Hi Sam

Expect a lot of quizzical looks, even stares - these things are rarely like a big law court, so a stranger in their midst might attract speculation about the reason for your visit (even though of course you are very much entitled to be there).

Hope you find it useful and even enjoyable!

Hi Sam

I’d be very interested to hear your reactions after your visit. Please come back and tell us what you thought were the most striking features.

Hope you enjoy it. I'm sure you will. As a part of my job once, I used to visit the local magistrates court on a regular basis- great fun and quite instructive. Its held me in good stead over the years and I've had a few pints for the stories that have come out of those visits and to the handful of ET's I've attended as a witness too.

Thanks for the tip David!

I will certainly feed back.

I suspect that you would have only had a snapshot as most discrim claims takes at least 3 days and sadly many UD claims last for 2 days so the good old days of going and finding something you can watch from beginning to end have largely gone. My advice would be to see the Clerk, explain what you are doing and ask their advice on which case to sit in on.