Right to legal representation at internal disciplinary hearings
R (on the application of G) v Governors of X School [2009] IRLR 434 held that in certain circumstances there may be an overarching right to legal representation before an internal disciplinary hearing, regardless of what the organisation’s rules say on the matter. Kulkarni v Milton Keynes Hospital HNS Trust [2009] EWCA Civ 789 is a Court of Appeal authority on the point but in the context of medical disciplinary proceedings.
Note: in ordinary disciplinary proceedings, where all that is at stake was the loss of a specific job, art 6 of the ECHR would not be engaged. However, where the effects of the proceedings could be far more serious and could, in that case, deprive the employee of his right to practise his or her profession, article 6 would be engaged.
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