The Claimant indicated that he had a disability in his ET1 and requested some adjustments including permission to use a recording device as his condition made it difficult for him to take contemporaneous notes. The Tribunal indicated that an application for permission should be made at the preliminary hearing although it was also stated that the application would be considered before the hearing if the requisite information was provided. The Claimant appealed on the grounds that he should not have to make an application, that the Tribunal erred in failing to consider the matter before the preliminary hearing and in failing to consider that the Claimant would be in contempt of court if he attempted to bring a recording device into the building before permission was granted.
Held, dismissing the appeal, that the Tribunal was entitled to deal with the application at a hearing rather than on the papers. There was no error of law in not considering the matter in advance of the hearing although the Tribunal had not precluded that course in any event. Finally, the Tribunal’s direction that the application to record be considered at a hearing implicitly gave permission to bring the equipment to court pending leave to record being given. In any event, there is unlikely to be a contempt of court within the meaning of s. 9 of the Contempt of Court Act 1981 where a person brings a device, e.g. a mobile phone, to court for a purpose other than to use it to record sound or subject to the Tribunal’s permission to do so.
Citations:
[2019] UKEAT 0070 – 19 – 1607
Links:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Employment
Updated: 01 December 2022; Ref: scu.650887
