UCU being taken to tribunal over discrimination for 'gc' views

[ArabellaScott]

https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/gender-critical-documentary-makers-take-ucu-tribunal

The filmmakers of 'Adult Human Female' are taking UCU to tribunal.

I'll try to find an archive copy.

Starting 4 minutes late this time!

Well Mr Brown is brave not sure this is a judge I'd correct 😂

He's saying her notes from yesterday are wrong and he doesn't want witness statements to be downloadable

Thank you for that little discussion about the expression 'beyond the Pale' and how friendly it stayed, an exchange of info and opinions between people who respect each other. I ❤it when that happens and didn't want to let it pass without acknowledging that

.

I know @MarieDeGournay it's as if arguing well is something adults should be capable of - TRAs take note!

Been removed while the bundle is prepared. It's late because the UCU side made some changes at 9.45am this morning apparently

Can anyone link to the precise document from which the judge was reading just now? I was distracted and would like to check whether it imposes limitations on what we can say here. I found
https://www.judiciary.uk/guidance-and-resources/practice-guidance-on-remote-observation-of-hearings-new-powers/
at
https://www.judiciary.uk/guidance-and-resources/employment-rules-and-legislation-practice-directions/
but I'm not sure that's it?

I am connected but just have a black screen & no audio. I have tried both on my iPhone & MacBook. When I use the browser on the laptop I see a list of those connected including Prof Jo Phoenix, Naomi Cunningham & myself but nothing else.

Are you using Chrome? It can be very temperamental with any other browser

I had a similar problem at the SP case when I tried to join with anything other than Audio+Video - so now that's what I do, but I do so with camera turned off in my computer's settings to avoid any incidents!

I have to join with camera on which I immediately switch off - otherwise it doesn't always let me in

I was in a meeting which didn’t finish until 10:45am, so I connected late. I’m getting “Waiting for the conference host to join.”

Am I in a waiting room or is the meeting paused?

Yes, I did choose “Audio and Video,” as I usually do.

I was also distracted (batch of rosemary jelly needed pouring into straining bag just at the wrong moment 😅 althoughI am definitely treating this tribunal with all the respect due to the enactment of justice) but I think the implication was that it would cover all members of the public reporting in any text-based medium... Which I guess covers us here? Maybe someone should email the clerk and ask whether we are allowed to discuss the case freely... It would be very strange to limit our conversation here as we would not be limited if we were talking in person...? Unless the sub judice rules apply but I thought that was criminal cases only. Anyone here better informed than I am? (Not that that's difficult.)

Emailing now

I was using Safari but have now switched to Chrome & have a blank black screen with the audio message "Waiting for the conference host to join". It looks like I might have to rely on Tribunal Tweets instead.

@PrettyDamnCosmic we are all WFTCHTJ but I have a screen with a slide as well so not a blank screen

It seemed as though the passage was framed around people using speech to text tools; it was certainly about live notes. Tribunal tweets say they are taking notes and will post later, which seems to be clearly allowed. I think at worst we may have to wait until a break in proceedings and then discuss what just happened. But much better to be safe than sorry, I suggest, so I have emailed to ask for a link.

OK. Just noticed that there is a slide with a warning about not recording the proceedings along with the WFTCHTJ audio.

Thank you, fanOfBen!

Thank you. I’ve got the screen notice which says it’s an offence to record or transmit all or any part of the hearing. I thought it safest not to screenshot that as I didn’t know if it counted as being part of the meeting.

I have an hour-long meeting at 12 noon. I hope we’ll be in by then. I tried to put the meeting back by an hour, thinking the tribunal might break for lunch, but no joy. 😀

Thank you, @fanOfBen for emailing. We don’t want to inadvertently do something which causes them to stop public access.

Which makes me wonder if we’ll be back to online access when the SP case restarts. I imagine the case will attract (even) more public interest than before, so probably not.

I think that bird has flown:

D. What happens if a large number of people wish to observe remotely?
11. Remote observation should not be allowed to jeopardise the administration of justice in the case concerned or any other case before the EAT. If a large number of people wish to observe remotely this may cause administrative or technological problems.
12. In some instances, where there is a risk that that may occur, a limit on the number of remote observers may be imposed.

That's EAT guidance but I'd expect it to apply at the lower level.

Restricted to Tribunal Tweets and people with a professional connection to the case would seem to be fair, if frustrating.

Watching Dr Upton giving evidence was so revealing.

It's interesting that NC was inclined to insist on not proceeding until we have access to the bundle, in contrast to e.g. the SP case where we had no access at all. I suppose that's because the whole hearing is virtual this time - at the SP case, there were still observers in person. I hope the judge isn't too annoyed! I do get the feeling that setting up these links were we can view but not download is a whole different kettle of fish from just giving us a downloadable link, and the lawyers involved don't seem to get that. I don't actually know how that works behind the scenes though.

You'd hope eventually they'll upgrade their IT skills to allow proper open justice. It really shouldn't be rocket science to transmit a live video stream where those viewing can't make any noise or disruption.

If they're going to restrict access they need to allow TT to live tweet. This case is very much in the public interest not to mention all the normal people paying UCU subs.