Some Practical Bits & Bobs/Do’s & Don’t’s
In no particular order, we have set out below a number of practical “bits and bobs/do’s and don’t’s” which we hope will be of assistance to parties and practitioners attending the Labour Court. We have also provided links to previous postings where relevant.
1. For the purposes of ease of reference and the efficient running of the hearing, please insert page numbers on submissions and booklets of documents provided to the Court.
2. You must bring with you to the hearing copies of submissions and other documentation which you have previously submitted to the Court and which you have previously received from the opposing side. The Court does not provide or reproduce copies of documents for parties.
3. An appeal before the Labour Cour is a fresh hearing of the matter, as if it had not already been heard (the legal terminology for this type of appeal is ade novoappeal – see previouspostingon this subject). You must present your case before the Court in full again, as if it had not previously been presented.
4. Issues in relation to the conduct of the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) hearing at first instance are not matters that can be considered by the Labour Court. How the WRC hearing was conducted, what was said or not said, what happened or didn’t happen, what was permitted or was not permitted, are not matters that can be appealed to the Labour Court. The only matters before the Labour Court are the same matters submitted originally to the WRC, which on appeal to the Labour Court are being heard again afresh (de novo) by the Labour Court.
5. In the context of a full re-hearing of the matters by the Labour Court (de novo), it is of no practical relevance, and is something of a futile exercise, for a party to outline to the Court their views on how an Adjudication Officer “fell into error” in the course of the first instance proceedings and decision.
6. If you have a mobile phone with you whilst in the courtroom, it must be put on silent during a hearing.
7. If you have a representative/spokesperson, that person will speak for you and you should not address the Court directly, unless you are giving sworn evidence (see previous posting onrepresentation– and posting onself-representation).
8. Do not use audio-recording equipment/phones to record the hearing (see previouspostingon recording of hearings).
9. You are asked to stand when the Court members enter and leave the courtroom. Standing thereafter is only required when reading submissions. There is no need to stand when addressing the Court otherwise (see previous posting on hearingprotocol).
10. Address the members of the Court only during a hearing. With the exception of cross-examination, direct engagement with the opposing side in the court hearing is not permitted (see previous posting on hearingprotocol).
11. Members of the Labour Court are not ‘judges’, unlike those who preside over cases in the ordinary civil courts. The Labour Court is an expert tribunal in the area of workplace relations. Labour Court members are not required to be solicitors or barristers, though all current members do hold various legal qualifications of one form or another, and some are qualified barristers. Members of the Labour Court are appointed by a government minister as experienced and qualified expert practitioners in industrial relations, employment law and dispute resolution and typically have a background as trade union officials, human resources professionals and employment law experts.
12. At a hearing you should refer to the chairman as ‘Chairman’ and address the other members as ‘Mr. X’ or ‘Ms. X’ (see previous posting on hearingprotocol).
13. If you intend to rely on decided caselaw (previous Labour Court decisions and higher court decisions), please ensure to submit copies of the decisions in advance in accordance with therulesof the Court. You must provide a full copy of the decision and not just the section(s) upon which you are relying or quoting.
14. The Labour Court does not consider WRC Adjudication Officer decisions to be precedents to be adhered to by it. As a tribunal, WRC Adjudication Officers are a body below the Labour Court in the system hierarchy. The Labour Court is the appellate tribunal for WRC decisions. Therefore, WRC decisions are not followed by the Labour Court and they do not in any way bind the Labour Court. For reasons of legal certainty and consistency, the Labour Court will typically follow its own decisions. Thereafter, the Labour Court is generally bound to follow decisions of superior courts (high court; court of appeal; supreme court; court of justice of the European Union).
15. The Labour Court has no role at all in the enforcement and implementation of its decisions. A party seeking to enforce a Labour Court employment rights decision which has not been carried out by the employer within the period of 42 days from the date of the Labour Court’s decision, may make an application to the District Court for an order directing the employer to carry out the decision. The Labour Court has no role in the District Court enforcement process and cannot assist or advise in relation to that process. Information on District Court procedures may be found onDistrict Court procedures (citizensinformation.ie).
16. “The hearing is today”. Documents and information that are relevant and that you intend to rely on must be provided in advance of the hearing in accordance with therules. With the Court’s permission, in certain circumstances, documents/information may be accepted at the hearing on the day. Documents/information will not be accepted subsequent to the close of the hearing (unless expressly requested by the Court at the hearing).
17. It is not open to the parties to continue to submit material after the deadline for submission of material has passed. While there will be a period of time between the submissions deadline and the date of the hearing, this is not to be considered as an open period and it is not permissible for parties to continue to submit material during this intervening period (see previous posting regardingschedulingof hearings).
18. The Labour Court does not, of its own volition, call witnesses to a hearing or arrange for the attendance of witnesses nominated by parties. If a party wishes the Court to hear the evidence of a particular witness in relation to disputed facts in issue, then that party must themselves arrange for the attendance of the witness (see previous posting in relation towitnessesandwitness summonses).
19. Once a hearing has been concluded and closed, parties can have no further contact with the Court division/members and are not permitted to provide additional or further information/documentation in relation to their case (unless expressly and specifically requested by the Court to do so prior to the close of the hearing).
20. Documents provided to the WRC are not passed to the Labour Court. The WRC and the Labour Court are separate, independent statutory bodies and do not interact in this way. If you want to the Court to take into consideration documents and information which you may previously have submitted to the WRC for the first instance hearing, then you must provide the documents/information to the Court in accordance with the Court’s rules.
