LAWYERS have called on the Scottish Government to review "catastrophic" employment tribunal fees if the system is devolved as part of the Smith Agreement.

The fees, introduced on July 29 last year (2013), have resulted in a substantial drop in the number of employment tribunals - prompting claims they are denying workers access to justice.

The Smith Commission report recommends that "all powers over the management and operation" of employment tribunals should now be devolved, which lawyers claim would allow the Scottish Government to remove the fees if it sees fit.

Employment solicitor Carol Fox, director of Fox & Partners, said: "We would hope to see these fees scrapped by the Scottish Government.

"My understanding of the Smith Report is that the enforcement of employment law is to be devolved, while the substantive employment law will remain reserved.

"It's a step forward in the right direction and we really need to look again at these fees.

"All the evidence demonstrates that the number of cases has declined dramatically since the introduction of the fees.

"It's basically a charter for rogue employers which sends the message that you can sack people, discriminate against people and nothing will be done about it.

"It's totally unacceptable that in a modern Scotland people can be denied access to justice like this.

"We should be trying to make it easier for people to do this, not harder."

Under the rules, it costs £160 or £250 to lodge a claim, depending on its complexity, and a further charge of £230 or £950 if the case goes to a hearing.

Figures obtained by The Herald in June showed a 68% drop in the number of Scottish cases in the nine months following the introduction of the fees - a fall of almost 5000 cases.

The Law Society of Scotland, who at that point said they were "very concerned" about the impact of the fees, have now called for the Scottish Government to review the issue following the Smith Report.

Stuart Naismith, convener of the Law Society's Access to Justice Committee, said: "The effect of introducing fees, ostensibly to help meet the costs of running the tribunal system, has been catastrophic for claimants.

"We believe the system is disproportionately unfair, resulting in a huge drop in the number of claims being presented, with the consequence that it is preventing legitimate cases being heard by a tribunal.

"We wrote to the both the UK Government Minister, Christopher Grayling MP and the then Scottish Government Cabinet Secretary for Justice Kenny MacAskill MSP in July this year calling for an urgent review of fees.

"Following publication of the Smith Commission's report, it seems likely employment tribunals will be devolved to Scotland and we would therefore urge the Scottish Government to look afresh at the issue."

He added that an effective employment tribunal system is "crucial" to ensure fairness in the workplace and the introduction of the fees has been to the "detriment of access to justice".

"Claims which would previously have been successful are not now being brought to the tribunal and we believe an urgent review is needed", he said.

"Such a review should consider not only the level of fees, or indeed whether there should be any fees at all, but also the whole process of resolving workplace disputes, how the tribunal service should be funded, how capacity should be managed and, ultimately, how to fairly balance the system for both claimants and employers."

A Scottish Government Spokesperson said: "With the Smith Commission only having published its recommendations last month, it is still early days in the overall process for devolution of further powers to the Scottish Parliament.

"We will need to see the detailed legislative proposals from the UK Government before understanding how any new powers on employment tribunals could work in Scotland."