United Kingdom Employment Appeal Tribunal

APPEARANCES

 

For the Appellant	MR DENNEMONT Messrs Shah Solicitors 168 Greenford road Sudbury Hill Middlesex HA1 3QZ
For the Respondent


 


MISS RECORDER ELIZABETH SLADE QC

1. We have an appeal by Mr Masih. There has been no appearance by Mr Masih himself or his legal representative. From the file it is apparent that he has legal representation. Contact was made with his solicitors this morning and the solicitors have sent a fax stating that counsel had been instructed to attend this Preliminary Hearing and that the solicitors understand that counsel has been taken ill suddenly and was not able to attend. The solicitors tender their apologies and request an adjournment to a later date.
2. The circumstances in which the Employment Appeal Tribunal was given this information are these; that there was no appearance by or on behalf of Mr Masih and a telephone call was made to the solicitors on the record. But for that telephone call, who knows whether contact would have been made or explanation tendered. We consider that that sort of conduct is a discourtesy to this court and also is not a desirable state of affairs for the expeditious disposal of cases. Some notification should have been given if an urgent situation arose before the information was elicited We wish to express our displeasure at what has occurred. However, the Appellant should not be prejudiced by the conduct of his legal representatives and we consider that in the circumstances this matter should be adjourned to a date to be fixed.