Throughout 2023, the Employment Tribunal (ET) service intends to roll out digital case management systems for use by Judges, ET administrators, legal representatives, litigants in person and Acas.
Online
Processes will move online, away from paper. Among other things, the new digital systems will be used:
- to submit claims, responses and applications to the ET
- to correspond with the ET
- to submit and access documents, including hearing bundles
- to manage the case, and review applications
- to make judicial decisions.
Secure
Once the encryption and data security specifications are released the system should be more secure. But we will not know until stakeholders start using it.
Efficient
Size limits on ET inboxes prevent large documents from being sent by e-mail, which can make sharing data difficult. The ET’s new case management systems will act as an ET-owned data-sharing portal, which is likely to make correspondence and sharing documents more efficient, saving representatives’ time and costs.
Issues
Teething problems are inevitable while everyone learns to use the new system, but regular users should become familiar with it relatively quickly. Litigants in person who do not deal with the ET regularly or who are not tech-savvy may experience difficulties. That may hinder efficient case management and increase costs. To mitigate this, the ET has stated that the systems will include helpful tips and instructions for all users. The systems are being tested in the Glasgow, Leeds, Bristol and Nottingham ETs.
