The Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) arbitration scheme for unfair dismissal cases came into effect on 21 May 2001 in England and Wales.

The scheme provides a voluntary alternative to the employment tribunals for the resolution of unfair dismissal disputes.

Strict rules of evidence will not apply and, as far as possible, instead of applying legal precedents, 'general principles of fairness and good conduct' will be taken into account.

Arbitral decisions ('awards') will be final, with very limited opportunities for parties to appeal or otherwise challenge the result.Because of its informal nature, the scheme is not designed for disputes raising jurisdictional issues (such as whether or not the employee was employed by the employer).

Accordingly, when agreeing to refer a dispute to arbitration under the scheme, both parties will be taken to have accepted that no jurisdictional issue is in dispute between them.

In particular, the parties will be treated as having agreed that a dismissal has taken place.

Any agreement to submit a dispute to arbitration under the scheme must satisfy the following requirements:-- The agreement must be in writing;-- The agreement must concern an existing dispute;-- The agreement must not seek to alter or vary any provision of the scheme;-- The agreement must have been reached either where a conciliation officer has taken action under section 18 Employment Tribunals Act 1996 or through a compromise agreement, where the conditions regulating such agreements under the Employment Rights Act 1996 are satisfied, and;-- The agreement must be accompanied by a complete waiver form for each party in the form set out in appendix A to the rules of the scheme.All such arbitration agreements must be notified to ACAS within six weeks of their conclusion.

Once an arbitration agreement has been concluded and the reference has been accepted by ACAS, the party against whom the claim is brought cannot unilaterally withdraw from the scheme.

The parties are free to reach an agreement settling the dispute at any stage.

The arbitrator should act fairly and impartially, giving each party a reasonable opportunity of putting his or her case and adopt procedures suitable to the circumstance of the particular case, avoiding unnecessary delay or expense.The parties have to do everything necessary for the proper and expeditious conduct of the proceedings, including complying without delay with any order or directions of the arbitrator.

The scheme is confidential and all hearings will be in private.

There is no set venue for the hearing, which may indeed be held at the workplace.

There will be no power to enforce the attendance of witnesses.

Parties will have the right to make submissions on the facts and final submissions.

The arbitrator's decision will not be a full reasoned decision, but only contain the main considerations that led to his conclusion.The arbitrator will not be bound by case law, but may appoint a legal adviser to assist with respect to any issue of European law or the Human Rights Act 1998 that, in the arbitrator's views, and subject to the terms of reference, might be involve d and relevant to the resolution of the dispute.We have waited a long time -- about three years -- for this scheme to be introduced.

It remains to be seen whether, in practice, it will prove to be anything more than a damp squib.