§ Lord Lester of Herne Hillasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether it is intended that the effect of the Access to Justice Bill will be to enable solicitors to charge contingency fees for proceedings before employment tribunals. [HL3484]
§ The Lord Chancellor (Lord Irvine of Lairg)My purpose, in amending the Bill to protect the position of solicitors working under a non-contentious business agreement, was not to maintain the situation where solicitors offer their services in employment tribunals on a contingency basis, but to protect areas of genuine non-contentious business where they can work under such an agreement. However, the problem is not with the use of contingency fees in non-contentious business, but with the definition of non-contentious business in the Solicitors Act, 1974, which causes employment tribunal proceedings to count as "non-contentious" business. I am considering whether the use of contingency fees should continue in employment tribunals, but in doing so I will need to be satisfied that any change will not have the effect of reducing access to justice.