A TRADE union has lost its second legal battle over the use of controversial fees in employment tribunals.
Under new regulations introduced last year, anyone looking to take their employer to a tribunal has to pay a fees between £390 and £1200, with figures showing this has resulted in an 72% drop in cases being brought forward.
UNISON believe the fees are denying workers access to justice and launched a judicial review in a bid to have them withdrawn.
They were told at that point that there was not enough evidence that the fees were a barrier to justice and, after collating information on the substantial drop in cases, the union returned for a second judicial review only to lose that too.
Dave Prentis, UNISON General Secretary, said: "The High Court's decision is disappointing but we will fight on and do everything possible to ensure that these punitive fees introduced by the government are abolished.
"Today's ruling is a real missed opportunity to ensure that all workers can afford to bring an employment tribunal claim. Since the introduction of fees last year, thousands of workers have been priced out of justice and we must not let this continue to happen."
Union officials, who also argued that the fees have a disproportionate impact on women, now plan to appeal against the decision.
In a written judgment on the case, Lord Justice Elias said: "The Lord Chancellor contends that the claims are still premature and that the very generalised nature of the statistics relied upon, with an absence of any concrete examples of specific individuals allegedly denied access to the tribunals, makes it impossible for the court to find in the claimant's favour."
Scottish law firm Fox and Partners has launched a similar court action in the Scottish courts, but this was put on hold to await the outcome of the UNISON case.
Firm director Carol Fox said they would now pursue the case again in light of the recent decision.
Ms Fox added: "We're very disappointed for UNISON but this is not the end, we hope that they will join us in our bid to have the fees stopped.
"One of the big issues we plan to raise is that, although the fees may be equivalent to similar court charges in England, they are much, much higher than those in Scotland."
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