Anna Macey examines the impact of O’Brien v Ministry of Justice on the issue of pension entitlement
On 6 February 2013 the Supreme Court unanimously held that the Part-time Workers Regulations entitled a fee paid recorder to a judicial pension (O’Brien v Ministry of Justice [2013] UKSC 6).
The facts
Mr O’Brien was a self-employed barrister who sat as a part-time recorder from 1978 until his retirement in 2005. Upon his retirement he requested a pension from the then Department of Constitutional Affairs. Judicial pensions were governed by the Judicial Pensions and Retirement Act 1993, and O’Brien’s request was refused because he had not held a qualifying judicial office under that Act. Further, European law did not entitle him to a pension because he was an office holder and not a worker.
In 2005 O’Brien commenced proceedings before an employment tribunal claiming, among other things, that he had been discriminated against because he was a part-time worker.
In 1997 an EU Framework Agreement on part-time work was concluded, with the aim of eliminating discrimination against part-time workers. This was implemented by a Council Directive,
