Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights provides that " In the determination of his civil rights and obligations ...... everyone is entitled to a fair and public hearing within a reasonable time by an independent and impartial tribunal established by law" (see Human Rights Act 1998 sch.1).

In Scotland in 1999 a former welder with the MoD, dismissed for alleged use of a works vehicle, used this provision to challenge the rule that legal aid is not available for proceedings in employment tribunals.

This resulted in a general reappraisal of the position in Scotland (but not yet in England). A Scottish Executive press release 3211/2000 of 12th December 2000 states that "The Scottish Ministers believe that, in order to ensure compatibility with the [Art 6 of the European Human Rights] Convention, legal assistance only needs to be extended to those applicants before Employment Tribunals who meet certain criteria. The financial criterion is already applicable to those seeking advice and assistance; the remaining criteria are set out in the draft Regulations currently before the Parliament". This referred to regulations which came into force in Scotland only on 15th January 2001 which extend legal aid to employment tribunals in cases which meet the criteria set out in the regulations.

For more detail see Legal aid and/or Human Rights/Human Rights Act 1998 .