The HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) has announced plans to introduce a new online database of employment tribunal decisions in autumn 2016. HMCTS has said that the new database will be available to all to search on the internet. It will include judgments from England, Wales and Scotland and it will initially only cover new judgments. HMCTS has not yet taken a decision on whether existing judgments will be converted and made available in the online database.

Currently, paper copies of employment tribunal judgments in England and Wales are held at Bury St Edmunds and judgments in Scotland are held at Glasgow, so they are difficult for the public to access as they have to attend in person at either the Bury St Edmunds or Glasgow offices. Posting the decisions online is therefore a significant technological step forward.

HMCTS will provide a further update once the “go live” date for the new database is known.