Between 1965 and 2001 a register of employers involved
in Tribunals was published. Following a consultation, the
Government discontinued that procress in 2001. The Department for
Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) has now been
ordered to hand the information over to a person who has requested
it.
The request was made in 2005 and turned down by BERR predecessor
the Department for Trade and Industry (DTI), which had
responsibility for Tribunals. The identity of individuals making
complaints will not be publicised.
BERR argued that the information should not be published because
it could harm companies who are incorrectly accused of behaving
improperly. It also claimed that the publicising of disputes would
reduce the chances of an amicable settlement.
BERR also claimed that the publication of employing
organisations' details would open them up to contact by
representatives hoping to sell their services in helping the
companies through the Tribunal process.
BERR had claimed that, therefore, there was a public interest in
maintaining the confidentiality of the records.
The ICO's deputy information commissioner Graham Smith has
issued a ruling in which he disagrees.
"There is a very weak - if any - public interest in maintaining
the exemption," said Smith in the ruling. "There is a competing
general public interest in disclosure which is strengthened by the
more specific public interest in “open justice” so that the details
of cases brought before courts and tribunals should normally be in
the public domain unless there is good reason for
confidentiality."
"The public interest in maintaining the exemption does not
outweigh the public interest in disclosing the requested
information," he wrote.
BERR said that the release of the information could lead to
companies, particularly more vulnerable smaller companies, being
victim of pressure selling from organisations seeking to represent
them at Tribunals.
Anyone can represent one of the parties in a Tribunal and
solicitors are barred from advertising themselves.
The ICO's ruling said that BERR had argued that the publication
of details of firms involved in claims would expose them to
marketing from companies seeking to represent them.
"It would make it easier for organisations to market their
services directly to respondents and increase the likelihood of
them being formally represented at tribunal proceedings. Where
small firms with limited resources are concerned this can amount to
more than trivial annoyance, particularly as some of the approaches
made are expressed in misleading terms which could result in
unnecessary costs to organisations," it said.
"There is a danger that the publication will lead to contact
from companies," said Ben Doherty, an employment law specialist
with Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind OUT-LAW.COM. "And this
won't be from solicitors. Anyone can represent you at a Tribunal.
"Having said that, employers were not likely to be very upset about
the change."
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