Court Rule Employment Tribunal Fees are Unlawful   There is likely to be a very high rise in tribunal claims after the Government agreed to scrap fees and pay back £27 million.   Ministers have promised to take immediate action to refund the payments after the Supreme Court upheld a challenge by Unison that the charges were discriminatory.   The court ruled that the Government was acting unlawfully and indeed unconstitutionally when it introduced the fees in 2013 for claims such as unfair dismissal, equal pay and redundancy.  The charges of up to £1,200 led to a 70% drop in the number of tribunals in England and Wales and were condemned as severely curtailing access to justice.  The ruling is thought to mean that £27 million will now be paid back to nearly 250,000 people who have paid the fees since July 2013 when they were introduced by the Lord Chancellor.   It is meanwhile thought that, the change will especially benefit women who wish to bring maternity discrimination cases as previously, these women could be faced with the double penalty of both high fees and indeed a short time scale in order to bring their claim.   If we can assist in relation to any employment matter, then contact the Education team at Sinclairslaw.