EMPLOYMENT APPEALS TRIBUNAL
CLAIM(S) OF: CASE NO.
Jacek Przesmycki UD1066/2012
MN688/2012
against
Thomas Farrell & Sons (Garage) Limited T/A Tramore Service Station,
under
UNFAIR DISMISSALS ACTS, 1977 TO 2007
MINIMUM NOTICE AND TERMS OF EMPLOYMENT ACTS, 1973 TO 2005
I certify that the Tribunal
(Division of Tribunal)
Chairman: Mr. N. Russell
Members: Mr. J. Browne
heard this case in Waterford on 9 May 2014
Representation:
_______________
Claimant(s):
4 Ballybricken, Waterford
Respondent(s):
No legal representation at the hearing
The Respondent has made an uncontested Preliminary Application to the Tribunal to allow him to record the proceedings on his iphone App. He has expressed his concern to have a verbatim account of the proceedings before the Tribunal should this record be required by him in the event of an Appeal.
There is no Legal requirement on the Tribunal to allow recording nor is the Tribunal statutorily obliged to record proceedings electronically. Indeed, the Tribunal has no technological facilities to record the proceedings.
Inherent jurisdiction is a broad doctrine allowing certain Legal Bodies to control their own processes and procedures. The Tribunal is one of those Bodies that enjoys such inherent jurisdiction. In the context of that jurisdiction the Tribunal has a longstanding prerogative to decide whether or not to permit electronic recording of its proceedings.
Traditionally, the Tribunal has not exercised its discretion to allow electronic recording prompted by the desire to preserve the informality that is the hallmark of proceedings before the Tribunal and to ensure that an atmosphere of undue formality is eliminated. Further, it has been considered undesirable to allow parties to record Proceedings for the following reasons:
- Issues as to the Security of any such recording given, in particular, the potential for unauthorised or undesirable use of any such recording by someone other than the parties.
- The lack of editorial control over any such recording.
- The potential for Witnesses to be intimidated by the fact that they are being recorded by an Opponent.
- The potential for electronic recordings to be used to coach later witnesses coming before the Tribunal
- The possibilities for Data Control breaches.
In stating the foregoing concerns which have been expressed in the past, the Tribunal, in this instance, is not challenging the integrity of the would-be user of such equipment (in this case an iphone App).
In light of the foregoing considerations the Tribunal does not propose to depart from the current practice of not allowing such electronic recording.
The Tribunal’s Notes are the Official record of the proceedings. Should the Respondent wish to have a verbatim record of the proceedings before the Tribunal he will be permitted to use the services of an Official stenographer.
Accordingly, the Tribunal does not accede to the Respondent’s Application to record the proceedings using an iphone App. The Tribunal further directs that, neither the parties to the proceedings, nor anyone else, may bring into the Tribunal room any recording equipment or electronic device capable of recording sound.
Sealed with the Seal of the
Employment Appeals Tribunal
This ________________________
(Sgd.) ________________________
(CHAIRMAN)