Ian Smith provides a round-up of the latest employment law decisions
Three Court of Appeal decisions are chosen for this month’s column and, as is so often the case in employment law, they could hardly be on more different subjects, though each is of considerable importance in its own sphere. The first concerns the common law doctrine of illegality, but in the special statutory context of discrimination claims where its application has always been subject to different rules. The second case seems to settle a loose end in relation to a problem that has arisen several times in recent years, namely whether an employee facing an internal disciplinary hearing can ever invoke rights under Art 6 of the European Convention, in particular a right to legal representation (which is deliberately omitted from the ACAS Code of Practice); the Supreme Court pronounced on this last year, but left undisturbed one particular Court of Appeal decision which, though on a slightly different point, was arguably out of line with the Supreme Court’s approach. It has now been effectively disapproved, possibly driving the final nail into the coffin
