United Kingdom Employment Appeal Tribunal

APPEARANCES

 

For the Appellant	MRS AMIRTHANAYAGAM (The Appellant in Person)
For the Respondent	MISS C D'SOUZA (of Counsel) The Treasury Solicitor Queen Anne's Chambers 28 Broadway London SW1H 9JS


 


MR JUSTICE LINDSAY (PRESIDENT)

1. It does not seem to me that a fairly informed decision could be arrived at today on the evidence that is currently laid before the Employment Tribunal, so I will give some directions as follows. Firstly, a written medical questionnaire directed to the Appellant's ability or inability to compose and lodge a Notice of Appeal at earlier stages may be drawn up by the Insolvency Services' solicitors, that is the Respondent's solicitors, and sent to the Appellant's general practitioner. I apprehend that the Appellant is content that such a questionnaire should be answered by her general practitioner. The questionnaire, when drawn up, should be sent to the Appellant first to ensure that it is not an unnecessary invasion of privacy; by unnecessary, I mean unnecessary for the purposes of the case, but, unless that is so, it is then to be given to the general practitioner for answer. It is to be sent to the Appellant within 28 days from today and passed by her on to her general practitioner as soon as practicable thereafter with a request that it be answered to the Respondent, the Insolvency Service, and directly sent also to the Employment Appeal Tribunal. I leave over any question of whether the doctor herself should be requested to give oral evidence, that is not a question raised today.
2. Secondly, so far as concerns any allegation of prejudice, likely or possibly to be suffered on the Insolvency Services' side, the Insolvency Services are at liberty to swear and file one or more affidavits within 21 days from today on the subject. I give Mrs Amirthanayagam 14 days thereafter to answer and 7 days thereafter for the Insolvency Service to reply, if so advised.
3. Thirdly, so far as concerns the circumstances in which an application for costs was earlier withdrawn, as is summarised in Mrs Amirthanayagam's chronology on page 16 of the present bundle and as against the dates 19 February 1997, 3 April 1997, 17 April 1997, I would wish to have evidence on that or, at any rate, I give the parties liberty to put in evidence on that subject, and it can be dealt with in the same affidavits and within the same timetable as I have just prescribed for the prejudice question, in other words, 21 days for the Insolvency Service to put in evidence,
   14 days thereafter for the Appellant to answer and 7 days thereafter for a reply by the Insolvency Service, if so advised.
4. Those three subjects all seem to me to be subjects that require further exploration if a sufficiently well informed judgement is to be given in this matter and, as I mentioned at the start, I do not see at the moment that any of those subjects is adequately covered. So, despite both sides wishing to go ahead today on the material that they have, I give those directions as to the further conduct of the case. I generally therefore, adjourn the matter with liberty to restore it as soon as practicable after the timetable that I have described is worked through, and, since I have spent some time looking at the papers,it would be sensible that I should reserve it when it comes back.

Miss D'Souza, anything else I can do today on that basis?

Sir, I don't think so.

Mrs Amirthanayagam, anything else I can do today?

So we are not going to go ahead with the hearing?

Not today. Is there anything else you wish me to do?

Sir, regarding the costs thing, if you want to I could explain to you …

Well, no, you see this isn't the way to do things, what we have here is written evidence; you will have your chance in the way I indicated to put in written evidence on the point.

Yes, but what makes you think I have got the paperwork? I have the paperwork regarding the application but I don't think I have the……

But, even if you had, it isn't the right way to produce papers; not out of a hat exactly, but out of a bag at the last minute. I don't think there is any alternative to the directions that I've given and as you have not identified anything further I can do, that's all I'll do.