Pivotal role of the union Certification Officer in addressing complaints

A recent tribunal clarified the procedural powers of the Certification Officer (CO), ruling that applications from trade union members cannot be refused simply because they are deemed "unarguable". After becoming Chair of a prestigious university, the appellant faced three internal complaints from other members/staff of the UCU involving bullying; a complaint regarding his decision not to permit a motion for an AGM at an EGM; and a data protection breach complaint from three managers after he included information about them.

All three complaints were investigated and upheld by an NEC panel of the UCU on 13 December 2021. The UCU rules, specifically 6.1 and 13.1, outline obligations for members to abide by the rules, refrain from detrimental conduct, and provide for disciplinary procedures, including censure, barring from office, suspension, or expulsion for breaches of rules or detriment to the UCU's interests.

On the 6th September 2022, the appellant submitted nine applications to the CO, alleging that the disciplinary procedure applied in his case had been unlawful, although the CO refused to accept these on the grounds that they were "not arguable" and a tribunal appeal followed. The tribunal ruled that the applications should be remitted to the CO due to the fact that the case did not meet the criteria for striking out under Section 256ZA, ruling that the CO erred in law. The CO's power to "refuse to accept" an application under Section 108B of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act (TULRCA) 1992 is narrowly confined to those instances where the CO is unsatisfied that the applicant has exhausted internal union complaints procedures. The phrase "unless he is satisfied" in Section 108B(1) means that if the CO is satisfied that internal procedures have been exhausted, he or she cannot refuse to accept the application on that ground. The primary mechanism for striking out applications on substantive grounds is Section 256ZA(1). Crucially, this section requires a "show cause" notice under Section 256ZA(4) – giving the applicant an opportunity to explain why their application should not be struck out.

This judgement reaffirms the procedural powers of the CO when handling applications against trade unions, strongly reinforcing the requirement for due process, specifically the "opportunity to be heard" before an application can be dismissed. This important case clarifies that, once internal union procedures are exhausted, the CO must accept any application and commence inquiries, even if those inquiries might later lead to a formal strike-out process with proper safeguards.

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