MyHMCTS portal: reforms to tribunal case management

About the MyHMCTS portal

His Majesty's Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS) began reforming the employment tribunal process in 2022. It has now rolled out the MyHMCTS portal (the portal) to enable representatives to submit claims, responses, correspondence and tribunal bundles digitally. Employment tribunals can now manage case files and process applications electronically through the new system, which will also exchange limited information with Acas.

After an initial trial, HMCTS has now expanded the portal to cover all case types. In the early adopter regions of Glasgow, Leeds, Bristol and Nottingham, both litigants in person and represented respondents can now submit their documents and make applications online (with litigants in person doing so via a slightly different portal called CitizenUI).

Case submission

Since 30 May 2024, representatives of claimants bringing single claims must submit ET1s through the portal in regions where the service has already been rolled out. Upon starting the form on the portal, a claimant will receive a 16-digit reference number, allowing users to track the claim.

Similarly, when responding to a claim that has been filed via the portal, the grounds of resistance (ET3) will soon have to be submitted via the portal. The notification to respondents that an ET1 has been filed will include the unique 16-digit reference number, allowing the respondent's representative to access the case on the portal. Until the portal is fully adopted by all employment tribunals, representatives can still submit an ET3 online, by email, by post or in person, but are encouraged to use the new portal whenever possible. Submission via the portal is due to become compulsory before the end of the year. Given that the portal is in its infancy, there will inevitably be times when technology lets us down and HMCTS is troubleshooting some of the teething issues law firms have reported. Our advice is therefore to make sure ET3s are ready for submission to the portal in good time to allow for this.

Case management

Each case on the portal is allocated to a user (normally the solicitor with primary responsibility for the case) who can track it and view and upload correspondence for the attention of the tribunal. They will also receive notifications when the tribunal uploads a new piece of correspondence to the portal. For the moment, applications can only be made via the portal in the early adopter regions but, as with the other functionalities, these will be available across the UK in the future.

There are no plans to move cases that are already progressing through the system in the traditional way to the portal, so they will continue to be dealt with as normal.

A reflection on the portal

The portal provides a flexible, modern and convenient solution for professionals to manage claims online. Despite the reported teething issues, we are optimistic that HMCTS will continue to enhance its overall performance and usability, bringing employment tribunals into the 21st century.