p. 11. Introduction
- Ian Smith, Ian Smithof Gray’s Inn, Barrister Emeritus Professor of Employment Law at the University of East Anglia General editor of Harvey on Industrial Relations and Employment Law
- Aaron BakerAaron BakerLate Associate Professor (Reader) in Law at Durham University
- and Owen WarnockOwen WarnockFormer Partner, Eversheds Sutherland, Solicitors Emeritus Professor of Employment Law, University of East Anglia An editor of Harvey on Industrial Relations and Employment Law
Abstract
This book focuses on employment law, which has been the subject of as rapid a transformation as can have happened to any legal subject in recent times, and is certainly one of the most difficult areas of law in which to keep up to date. In some ways employment law is a curious mixture of ancient and modern, for much old law lies behind or at the basis of new statutory law and in some cases the old law continues to exist alongside the new. The subject is, however, unrecognizable from what it was only 40 years ago, with the enormous increase in statute law and the ever-increasing volume of case law on the modern statutes. Thus, the intending student must be able to exercise the lawyer’s skill in dealing with both extensive case law and major statutes, sometimes of astounding complexity. As well as setting out the history of this area of law, this chapter covers important background features of procedure and the enforcement of the law through tribunals, including significant developments such as ACAS early conciliation, the fiasco over tribunal fees, and possible future reforms to the system of adjudication.
