Tribunal must not surf the web to find evidence not given by either party (News, 14 November 2014)

Article summary

Employment tribunal proceedings are not inquisitorial and although Rule 41 of the ET Rules permits a tribunal to ask questions of parties and witnesses, it does not allow the tribunal to make enquiries on its own behalf into evidence which was never volunteered by either party. The tribunal may, in an appropriate case, ask the parties whether they have thought about particular evidence or even, possibly, whether in an appropriate case the parties or one of them would wish an adjournment in order to obtain it. But it is not for the tribunal itself to investigate the evidence and rely upon its own investigations. It is not the role of the tribunal to find evidence to support one party’s case or the other. It is a procedural irregularity for a tribunal to access the Internet in private to find evidence on its own behalf. On a separate point of guidance, anyone taking an appeal...