Industrial Tribunal

teddog17

My Sister has been at a Tribunal for five years and counting is this an exception

annandale

What do you mean five years and counting?

teddog17

The Tribunal started 5 years ago and still has not finished.

annandale

An employment tribunal?

Bogalot

Presumably the hearing has not been five years long?

Why not give us a timeline of what has happened to date?

teddog17

I am sorry if I am being quite vague about the matter you are correct in that the case has stopped and started again during this period. The judge had asked it to be broken down into three parts. It is at present in the second stage. The case has been delayed because of barrister availability and the defendants asking for more time on more than two occasions. My concern is that it seems to go on forever, which raises my concerns for my sister. The reason I asked the question was to find out if it's usually in a complex case for a Tribunal to take this long. Yes it is an Industrial Tribunal

steampowered

No, it is not normal for legal disputes to drag on for 5 years after proceedings have been issued. That is an exceptionally long time.

Impossible to comment further without knowing the details.

lincroft1710

There must be something very important at stake for a Tribunal to drag on for 5 years!!

LittleVoice

teddog17 wrote: »

Yes it is an Industrial Tribunal

It must have been going on for more than five years if it is an Industrial Tribunal!

agrinnall

Who is paying for barrister's time over 5 years?

Crazy_Jamie

teddog17 wrote: »

I am sorry if I am being quite vague about the matter you are correct in that the case has stopped and started again during this period. The judge had asked it to be broken down into three parts. It is at present in the second stage. The case has been delayed because of barrister availability and the defendants asking for more time on more than two occasions. My concern is that it seems to go on forever, which raises my concerns for my sister. The reason I asked the question was to find out if it's usually in a complex case for a Tribunal to take this long. Yes it is an Industrial Tribunal

There is clearly much more information here that we would need to know before we can offer any explanation as to how the case has dragged on for that long. It is unusual for any proceedings in any court to last that long after they have been issued, but the Industrial/Employment Tribunal is generally more efficient than other forums. Even the delays that you describe shouldn't get the overall delay to anywhere near five years. Then again, I would have expected a Judge (or indeed, multiple Judges) to get a proper grip on a case that lasted an excessive length of time, which would probably mean that there is some legitimate reason there along with what is likely to be other delays.

So the short answer to your question is that yes, this is an exception, and quite a notable one. But no one can tell you why that is without further details.

agrinnall wrote:

Who is paying for barrister's time over 5 years?

It may well be that the OP is referring to the Respondent's barrister rather than their sister's. In any event, barristers get paid for individual work that they are instructed on. So, for example, they would be paid to attend a preliminary hearing and/or trial, or to do a written advice on the merits of the case. As such delay in and of itself doesn't make a barrister more expensive than they would otherwise be, albeit the cost over five years would still likely be more than most. However, the solicitor's costs over five years would be much more significant, as they are managing the case constantly over that time.