Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Taking oral evidence from abroad in Employment Tribunals: England & Wales adopt party-led Hague permissions; Scotland waives state permission for voluntary witnesses; tribunal discretion and interests of justice remain central

Published on: 27 January 2025

Published by a LexisNexis Employment expert

Legal News

Article summary

Presidential Guidance: Taking Oral Evidence by Video of Telephone from Persons Located Abroad (England and Wales)

Presidential Guidance: Taking Oral Evidence by Video of Telephone from Persons Located Abroad (Scotland)

What are the practical implications?

There is a change of emphasis and procedure in the revised guidance for England and Wales. The guidance documents are significant both for the reforms they introduce and for the growing procedural divergence between employment tribunals in England and Wales and those in Scotland when oral evidence is taken from witnesses overseas. The onus now lies with the parties—rather than the tribunals or HMCTS—to investigate a foreign state’s stance on permitting evidence to be given from within its territory, and the guidance differentiates between states that are parties to the 1970 Convention on the Taking of Evidence Abroad in Civil or Commercial Matters (the Hague Convention) and those that are not. The updated Presidential Guidance for England and Wales includes the following key point:

Parties seeking to obtain oral testimony from abroad must prepare well in advance.

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