The Role of the Court Secretary
There is no official record of proceedings, neither audio nor written, maintained by the Labour Court at court hearings.
Parties before the Court sometimes preface a remark with the words, “For the record….”, or make a request to the Court to note something “for the record”. While the Court can and does of course take due cognisance of matters specifically drawn to its attention, there is no official recording of this.
In employment rights cases, a recognised Court Stenographer may be permitted to record proceedings at the behest of a party (by arrangement of that party), where the Court and the opposing party have been notified. Otherwise, parties are strictly prohibited from making audio recordings, either covert or overt, of Labour Court proceedings.
While Members of the Court may generate their own notes at hearings, these notes are personal notes. They are not an official record of the hearing. Following a hearing, the Court occasionally receives requests from parties for a copy of the ‘record’ of the proceedings, or a copy of any notes taken during the hearing. Such requests to the Court cannot be fulfilled. Neither can they be fulfilled through a GDPR data access request nor an FOI records request.
The Court Secretary who is seated in front of the bench, facing the court, may be observed making notes during a hearing, but in doing so he/she is not keeping an official record of proceedings.
The Court Secretary attends Labour Court hearings to support the assigned division of the Court in an administrative capacity and has a variety of responsibilities. He/she will make notes during a hearing, but again, these are kept for the Court Secretary’s personal purposes only and are not part of the Court’s file, nor are they available to or obtainable by parties/witnesses/attendees.
The Court Secretary ensures that the Division is provided with all documentation and paperwork which the parties have submitted to the Court. He/she acts as a point of contact with the parties in the lead up to a hearing to deal with any administrative and logistical matters relating to the hearing and the hearing arrangements.
Should the need arise for the Court to make contact with parties in advance of the date of the hearing, the Court Secretary will liaise with the parties by telephone or through written/email correspondence.
On the day of the hearing, as well as attending the court hearing, the Court Secretary acts as a point of contact for the parties and will assist parties as appropriate prior to the arrival of the Court Division to the hearing room. Following the conclusion of the hearing, and a period of deliberation by the Division, the Court Secretary issues the decision/recommendation of the Court to the parties.
