It is common for parties to a tribunal claim to agree, at an early stage, the list of the issues that they want a tribunal to determine. In the recent case of Scicluna v Zippy Stitch the Court of Appeal has suggested that tribunals will usually be confined to these issues.
In this case, the agreed list of issues set out the parties’ positions on whether there had been an agreement to pay the claimant wages. The Tribunal held that there had been such an agreement, however, confusion arose over when such payments were due. The Respondent argued that payment was only due when the company could afford to pay. The Court of Appeal stated that this had not been an agreed issue for the tribunal to consider.
This case is a reminder for parties to a claim to properly consider the list of issues before agreeing this. In this case, the parties were both legally represented and a tribunal may possibly have more sympathy for a litigant in person, however, regardless parties should give proper consideration to the issues to be determined, as a departure from these is only likely to be permitted in limited circumstances.