Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992

Part I — Trade Unions

Chapter I — Introductory

Meaning of “trade union"

Federated employers’ associations.

1

In this Act a “trade union” means an organisation (whether temporary or permanent)—

• (a) which consists wholly or mainly of workers of one or more descriptions and whose principal purposes include the regulation of relations between workers of that description or those descriptions and employers or employers’ associations; or

• (b) which consists wholly or mainly of—

• (i) constituent or affiliated organisations which fulfil the conditions in paragraph (a) (or themselves consist wholly or mainly of constituent or affiliated organisations which fulfil those conditions), or

• (ii) representatives of such constituent or affiliated organisations,

and whose principal purposes include the regulation of relations between workers and employers or between workers and employers’ associations, or the regulation of relations between its constituent or affiliated organisations.

The list of trade unions

The list of trade unions

2

• (1) The Certification Officer shall keep a list of trade unions containing the names of—

• (a) the organisations whose names were, immediately before the commencement of this Act, duly entered in the list of trade unions kept by him under section 8 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations Act 1974, and

• (b) the names of the organisations entitled to have their names entered in the list in accordance with this Part.

• (2) The Certification Officer shall keep copies of the list of trade unions, as for the time being in force, available for public inspection at all reasonable hours free of charge.

• (3) A copy of the list shall be included in his annual report.

• (4) The fact that the name of an organisation is included in the list of trade unions is evidence (in Scotland, sufficient evidence) that the organisation is a trade union.

• (5) On the application of an organisation whose name is included in the list, the Certification Officer shall issue it with a certificate to that effect.

• (6) A document purporting to be such a certificate is evidence (in Scotland, sufficient evidence) that the name of the organisation is entered in the list.

Application to have name entered in the list

3

• (1) An organisation of workers, whenever formed, whose name is not entered in the list of trade unions may apply to the Certification Officer to have its name entered in the list.

• (2) The application shall be made in such form and manner as the Certification Officer may require and shall be accompanied by—

• (a) a copy of the rules of the organisation,

• (b) a list of its officers,

• (c) the address of its head or main office, and

• (d) the name under which it is or is to be known,

and by the prescribed fee.

• (3) If the Certification Officer is satisfied—

• (a) that the organisation is a trade union,

• (b) that subsection (2) has been complied with, and

• (c) that entry of the name in the list is not prohibited by subsection (4),

he shall enter the name of the organisation in the list of trade unions.

• (4) The Certification Officer shall not enter the name of an organisation in the list of trade unions if the name is the same as that under which another organisation—

• (a) was on 30th September 1971 registered as a trade union under the Trade Union Acts 1871 to 1964,

• (b) was at any time registered as a trade union or employers’ association under the Industrial Relations Act 1971, or

• (c) is for the time being entered in the list of trade unions or in the list of employers’ associations kept under Part II of this Act,

or if the name is one so nearly resembling any such name as to be likely to deceive the public.

Removal of name from the list

4

• (1) If it appears to the Certification Officer, on application made to him or otherwise, that an organisation whose name is entered in the list of trade unions is not a trade union, he may remove its name from the list.

• (2) He shall not do so without giving the organisation notice of his intention and considering any representations made to him by the organisation within such period (of not less than 28 days beginning with the date of the notice) as may be specified in the notice.

• (3) The Certification Officer shall remove the name of an organisation from the list of trade unions if—

• (a) he is requested by the organisation to do so, or

• (b) he is satisfied that the organisation has ceased to exist.

Certification as independent trade union

Meaning of “independent trade union”

5

In this Act an “independent trade union” means a trade union which—

• (a) is not under the domination or control of an employer or group of employers or of one or more employers’ associations, and

• (b) is not liable to interference by an employer or any such group or association (arising out of the provision of financial or material support or by any other means whatsoever) tending towards such control;

and references to “independence”, in relation to a trade union, shall be construed accordingly.

Application for certificate of independence

6

• (1) A trade union whose name is entered on the list of trade unions may apply to the Certification Officer for a certificate that it is independent.

The application shall be made in such form and manner as the Certification Officer may require and shall be accompanied by the prescribed fee.

• (2) The Certification Officer shall maintain a record showing details of all applications made to him under this section and shall keep it available for public inspection (free of charge) at all reasonable hours.

• (3) If an application is made by a trade union whose name is not entered on the list of trade unions, the Certification Officer shall refuse a certificate of independence and shall enter that refusal on the record.

• (4) In any other case, he shall not come to a decision on the application before the end of the period of one month after it has been entered on the record; and before coming to his decision he shall make such enquiries as he thinks fit and shall take into account any relevant information submitted to him by any person.

• (5) He shall then decide whether the applicant trade union is independent and shall enter his decision and the date of his decision on the record.

• (6) If he decides that the trade union is independent he shall issue a certificate accordingly; and if he decides that it is not, he shall give reasons for his decision.

Withdrawal or cancellation of certificate

7

• (1) The Certification Officer may withdraw a trade union’s certificate of independence if he is of the opinion that the union is no longer independent.

• (2) Where he proposes to do so he shall notify the trade union and enter notice of the proposal in the record.

• (3) He shall not come to a decision on the proposal before the end of the period of one month after notice of it was entered on the record; and before coming to his decision he shall make such enquiries as he thinks fit and shall take into account any relevant information submitted to him by any person.

• (4) He shall then decide whether the trade union is independent and shall enter his decision and the date of his decision on the record.

• (5) He shall confirm or withdraw the certificate accordingly; and if he decides to withdraw it, he shall give reasons for his decision.

• (6) Where the name of an organisation is removed from the list of trade unions, the Certification Officer shall cancel any certificate of independence in force in respect of that organisation by entering on the record the fact that the organisation’s name has been removed from that list and that the certificate is accordingly cancelled.

Conclusive effect of Certification Officer’s decision

8

• (1) A certificate of independence which is in force is conclusive evidence for all purposes that a trade union is independent; and a refusal, withdrawal or cancellation of a certificate of independence, entered on the record, is conclusive evidence for all purposes that a trade union is not independent.

• (2) A document purporting to be a certificate of independence and to be signed by the Certification Officer, or by a person authorised to act on his behalf, shall be taken to be such a certificate unless the contrary is proved.

• (3) A document purporting to be a certified copy of an entry on the record and to be signed by the Certification Officer, or by a person authorised to act on his behalf, shall be taken to be a true copy of such an entry unless the contrary is proved.

• (4) If in any proceedings before a court, the Employment Appeal Tribunal, the Central Arbitration Committee, ACAS or an employment tribunal a question arises whether a trade union is independent and there is no certificate of independence in force and no refusal, withdrawal or cancellation of a certificate recorded in relation to that trade union—

• (a) that question shall not be decided in those proceedings, and

• (b) the proceedings shall instead be stayed or sisted until a certificate of independence has been issued or refused by the Certification Officer.

• (5) The body before whom the proceedings are stayed or sisted may refer the question of the independence of the trade union to the Certificate Officer who shall proceed in accordance with section 6 as on an application by that trade union.

Supplementary

Appeal against decision of Certification Officer

9

• (1) An organisation aggrieved by the refusal of the Certification Officer to enter its name in the list of trade unions, or by a decision of his to remove its name from the list, may appeal to the Employment Appeal Tribunal on any appealable question.

• (2) A trade union aggrieved by the refusal of the Certification Officer to issue it with a certificate of independence, or by a decision of his to withdraw its certificate, may appeal to the Employment Appeal Tribunal on any appealable question.

• (3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (4) For the purposes of this section, an appealable question is any question of law arising in the proceedings before, or arising from the decision of, the Certification Officer.

Chapter II — Status and property of trade unions

General

Quasi-corporate status of trade unions

10

• (1) A trade union is not a body corporate but—

• (a) it is capable of making contracts;

• (b) it is capable of suing and being sued in its own name, whether in proceedings relating to property or founded on contract or tort or any other cause of action; and

• (c) proceedings for an offence alleged to have been committed by it or on its behalf may be brought against it in its own name.

• (2) A trade union shall not be treated as if it were a body corporate except to the extent authorised by the provisions of this Part.

• (3) A trade union shall not be registered—

• (a) as a company under the the Companies Act 2006, or

• (b) under the Friendly Societies Act 1974 or the the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014 ;

and any such registration of a trade union (whenever effected) is void.

Exclusion of common law rules as to restraint of trade

11

• (1) The purposes of a trade union are not, by reason only that they are in restraint of trade, unlawful so as—

• (a) to make any member of the trade union liable to criminal proceedings for conspiracy or otherwise, or

• (b) to make any agreement or trust void or voidable.

• (2) No rule of a trade union is unlawful or unenforceable by reason only that it is in restraint of trade.

Property of trade union

Property to be vested in trustees

12

• (1) All property belonging to a trade union shall be vested in trustees in trust for it.

• (2) A judgment, order or award made in proceedings of any description brought against a trade union is enforceable, by way of execution, diligence, punishment for contempt or otherwise, against any property held in trust for it to the same extent and in the same manner as if it were a body corporate.

• (3) Subsection (2) has effect subject to section 23 (restriction on enforcement of awards against certain property).

Vesting of property in new trustees

13

• (1) The provisions of this section apply in relation to the appointment or discharge of trustees in whom any property is vested in trust for a trade union whose name is entered in the list of trade unions.

• (2) In the following sections as they apply to such trustees references to a deed shall be construed as references to an instrument in writing—

• (a) section 39 of the Trustee Act 1925 and section 38 of the Trustee Act (Northern Ireland) 1958 (retirement of trustee without a new appointment), and

• (b) section 40 of the Trustee Act 1925 and section 39 of the Trustee Act (Northern Ireland) 1958 (vesting of trust property in new or continuing trustees).

• (3) Where such a trustee is appointed or discharged by a resolution taken by or on behalf of the union, the written record of the resolution shall be treated for the purposes of those sections as an instrument in writing appointing or discharging the trustee.

• (4) In section 40 of the Trustee Act 1925 and section 39 of the Trustee Act (Northern Ireland) 1958 as they apply to such trustees, paragraphs (a) and (c) of subsection (4) (which exclude certain property from the section) shall be omitted.

Transfer of securities held in trust for trade union

14

• (1) In this section—

• “instrument of appointment” means an instrument in writing appointing a new trustee of a trade union whose name is entered in the list of trade unions, and

• “instrument of discharge” means an instrument in writing discharging a trustee of such a trade union;

and for the purposes of this section where a trustee is appointed or discharged by a resolution taken by or on behalf of such a trade union, the written record of the resolution shall be treated as an instrument in writing appointing or discharging the trustee.

• (2) Where by any enactment or instrument the transfer of securities of any description is required to be effected or recorded by means of entries in a register, then if—

• (a) there is produced to the person authorised or required to keep the register a copy of an instrument of appointment or discharge which contains or has attached to it a list identifying the securities of that description held in trust for the union at the date of the appointment or discharge, and

• (b) it appears to that person that any of the securities so identified are included in the register kept by him,

he shall make such entries as may be necessary to give effect to the instrument of appointment or discharge.

This subsection has effect notwithstanding anything in any enactment or instrument regulating the keeping of the register.

• (3) A document which purports to be a copy of an instrument of appointment or discharge containing or having attached to it such a list, and to be certified in accordance with the following subsection to be a copy of such an instrument, shall be taken to be a copy of such an instrument unless the contrary is proved.

• (4) The certificate shall be given by the president and general secretary of the union and, in the case of an instrument to which a list of securities is attached, shall appear both on the instrument and on the list.

• (5) Nothing done for the purposes of or in pursuance of this section shall be taken to affect any person with notice of any trust or to impose on any person a duty to inquire into any matter.

• (6) In relation to a Scottish trust, references in this section to the appointment and discharge of a trustee shall be construed as including references to, respectively, the assumption and resignation of a trustee; and references to an instrument appointing or discharging a trustee shall be construed accordingly.

Prohibition on use of funds to indemnify unlawful conduct

15

• (1) It is unlawful for property of a trade union to be applied in or towards—

• (a) the payment for an individual of a penalty which has been or may be imposed on him for an offence or for contempt of court,

• (b) the securing of any such payment, or

• (c) the provision of anything for indemnifying an individual in respect of such a penalty.

• (2) Where any property of a trade union is so applied for the benefit of an individual on whom a penalty has been or may be imposed, then—

• (a) in the case of a payment, an amount equal to the payment is recoverable by the union from him, and

• (b) in any other case, he is liable to account to the union for the value of the property applied.

• (3) If a trade union fails to bring or continue proceedings which it is entitled by bring by virtue of subsection (2), a member of the union who claims that the failure is unreasonable may apply to the court on that ground for an order authorising him to bring or continue the proceedings on the union’s behalf and at the union’s expense.

• (4) In this section “penalty”, in relation to an offence, includes an order to pay compensation and an order for the forfeiture of any property; and references to the imposition of a penalty for an offence shall be construed accordingly.

• (5) The Secretary of State may by order designate offences in relation to which the provisions of this section do not apply.

Any such order shall be made by statutory instrument which shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.

• (6) This section does not affect—

• (a) any other enactment, any rule of law or any provision of the rules of a trade union which makes it unlawful for the property of a trade union to be applied in a particular way; or

• (b) any other remedy available to a trade union, the trustees of its property or any of its members in respect of an unlawful application of the union’s property.