In some limited circumstances, a tribunal may review its own decision, either on its own initiative or on the application of a party. An application for a review must be made within 14 days of the date the tribunal's decision was sent to the parties. The grounds for a review are narrowly drawn. They include where the decision was wrongly made as a result of a mistake by the tribunal's administrative staff, or where new and relevant evidence has come to light since the tribunal hearing that could not reasonably have been known or foreseen at the time. On reviewing its decision, the tribunal can confirm or amend it, or overturn it entirely and order a re-hearing of the claim.
A losing party may want to appeal against the tribunal's decision. There is no right to appeal against the tribunal's findings of fact. If the tribunal has made an error of law, on the other hand, it is possible to appeal to the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT). A party has six weeks to lodge an appeal with the EAT from the date on which the tribunal sent out the reasons for its decision. If the EAT concludes that the tribunal did not make a mistake on the law, it will confirm the tribunal's decision. If, on the other hand, it does identify an error of law, the EAT will overturn the whole or part of the tribunal's decision, or send the case back to the same or a different tribunal to be reconsidered.
It is possible to appeal against a decision of the EAT on a point of law, to the Court of Appeal in England and Wales and the Inner House of the Court of Session in Scotland. A further appeal is then possible to the House of Lords.