Employment Tribunals have broad powers to support vulnerable parties. But an impaired litigant in person may struggle to identify the barrier, explain its functional effect and provide the evidence needed for a proportionate adjustment.
Employment Tribunal proceedings do not inevitably cause mental illness. But for a litigant in person, self-representation can add anxiety, cognitive load and procedural pressure to an already damaging workplace dispute.
A Legal Lens article on online civil courts, digital filing, email service, default judgment, vulnerable users and why a login problem can become a legal problem.
A quiet May 2025 change to the Equal Treatment Bench Book removed a written-only evidence adjustment for mental health disabilities—raising concerns about access to justice as tribunals demand increasingly “objective” medical proof for adjustments and postponements.
