Judicial Assessment
The President of the Employment Tribunals has issued Presidential Guidance setting out a new procedure called ‘judicial assessment’.
This scheme will allow a judge to give a confidential and impartial assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the parties’ respective arguments at an early stage in the proceedings. It will be offered at the first case management hearing. The judge who carries out the assessment may conduct other case management hearings or be involved in judicial mediation, but would not be able to sit on any proceedings that would entail a final determination of the parties’ rights.
It is intended that this scheme will be used particularly where one or both of the parties does not have legal representation.