Embassies’ employment immunities are in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights, as Charles Pigott reports
In Benkharbouche and Janah v Embassy of the Republic of Sudan and others [2015] EWCA Civ 33, [2015] All ER (D) 51 the Court of Appeal had to decide whether ss 4 and 16 of the State Immunity Act 1978 (SIA 1978) were effective to bar employment claims in the UK from London embassy service staff.
Ms Benkharbouche is a Moroccan national who was employed as a cook at the Sudanese embassy. Ms Janah, also Moroccan, worked as a member of the domestic staff at the Libyan embassy. Both brought claims for unfair dismissal and breaches of the Working Time Regulations 1998 (SI 1998/1833). Ms Janah also brought claims for racial discrimination and harassment.
Their claims were dismissed by the employment tribunal. The issue before the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) (which heard their appeals together in April 2013) and before the Court of Appeal was whether Art 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights (the Convention) in effect trumped ss 4 and 16 of SIA 1978, which the
