Claire Gilham: Judge who raised concerns about Government cuts wins Supreme Court bid to bring 'whistleblowing' claim

A judge has won a landmark Supreme Court appeal in her bid to bring a “whistleblowing” claim against the Ministry of Justice.

Claire Gilham, who said she was bullied and suffered a breakdown after raising concerns about Government cuts, has been involved in a lengthy legal wrangle to have her claim aired at an employment tribunal.

The district judge, who sat at Warrington County Court in Cheshire, says she was “treated detrimentally as a result of raising concerns about systemic failings in the court administration”.

She previously suffered defeat in her battle to bring a claim against the Ministry of Justice in the employment tribunal, losing a test case at the Court of Appeal in December 2017.

Judge Gilham said after the ruling: "Winning is a great relief after these seven long years.

"Ethically I always knew that my point was right: that judges should have human rights protections.

"You can't have justice without independent and unafraid judges, and if judges can't speak out to protect the court system, then justice suffers and the people caught up in the system suffer too.

"I look forward to my claims being heard in the employment tribunal."

Before the start of a hearing at the Supreme Court earlier this year, she said: "Whistleblowers everywhere will welcome clarity on how their status as a judge, office-holder or any person working other than under a contract limits their rights and protection from unfair treatment."

At the heart of the case are findings that judges are not afforded the legal protections given to whistleblowers under employment legislation.

This is because they are not classed as "workers" but are office-holders.

District Judge Gilham previously expressed concerns about the dangers she said are posed to courts as a result of cuts.

In February 2015, she presented claims to the employment tribunal of "public interest disclosure detriments" - whistleblowing - and disability discrimination.

The disclosures concerned what were said to be poor and unsafe working conditions, as well as an excessive workload in the courts where she was based, affecting herself and other judges.

The MoJ contested the tribunal's jurisdiction to entertain the whistleblowing claim because she was not a "worker" within the meaning of the 1996 Employment Rights Act.

Additional reporting by PA.

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