Catalogue description Records of the National Industrial Relations Court

The National Industrial Relations Court was established on 1 December 1971 under the Industrial Relations Act 1971. The court consisted of such number of judges of the High Court and the Court of Appeal nominated by the Lord Chancellor, at least one judge of the Court of Session nominated by the Lord President of that court, and such number of other members appointed by her majesty, on the joint recommendation of the Lord Chancellor and the Secretary of State for Employment, as appeared to have special knowledge or experience of industrial relations. The Lord Chancellor was also empowered to appoint one of the nominated judges president of the court.

The jurisdiction conferred upon the court as a superior court of record was diverse. It included the consideration of applications relating to closed and agency shop agreements and to the grant of sole bargaining rights; it worked in these matters in close co-operation with the Commission on Industrial Relations set up by royal warrant in 1969 and established as a statutory body by the Industrial Relations Act 1971. The court also dealt with matters arising from the registration, under the act, of trade unions and employers' associations and heard complaints of unfair industrial practices.

On the application of the Secretary of State for Employment, the court could make an emergency order directing the cessation of a strike, or irregular industrial action or a lock-out, where the consequences of such actions were likely to be gravely injurious to the community. The court also heard appeals from decisions of industrial tribunals on questions of law arising, among other things, from proceedings under the Contracts of Employment Act 1963, the Redundancy Payments Act 1965 and the Equal Pay Act 1970.

An appeal also lay to the court in respect of any order of the Registrar of Trade Unions and Employers' Organisations relating to the registration of such organisations, breaches of rules regarding the political funds of trade unions, etc.

Appeals from decisions of the National Industrial Relations Court lay to the Court of Appeal in the case of proceedings in England and Wales and to the Court of Session in the case of proceedings in Scotland.

The aim of the Industrial Relations Act 1971 was to promote good industrial relations by establishing clear rights and obligations for trade unions and employers. The court's role was to determine, in the light of the act, the legality or otherwise of industrial action and to provide remedies for the individual against unjust dismissal by an employer or unjust action by a trade union. The measure was, however, strongly opposed by the Trades Union Congress and although during its comparatively short existence the court settled many cases without fuss it is remembered for its more controversial judgments.

In particular, its committal to prison in June 1972 of three dockers for contempt of a court order arising from a dispute concerning the handling of goods at a container depot in East London led to a nationwide stoppage of work in the docks. This was only relieved when, shortly before the arrest of the men concerned by the tipstaff, the Official Solicitor intervened successfully in the Court of Appeal on their behalf, though without their knowledge. Further industrial unrest occurred in the following month when five dockers were imprisoned for defying an order of the court although, on the further application of the Official Solicitor, they were released a few days later.

One of the first acts of the new Labour government, when returned to power in February 1974, was to repeal the Industrial Relations Act 1971 under the Trade Union and Labour Relations Act 1974. Although certain provisions of the 1971 act, particularly those concerning unfair dismissal and the jurisdiction and procedure of industrial tribunals were re-enacted, the National Industrial Relations Court was abolished and it sat for the last time on 25 July 1974.