Freestanding right to be legally represented at
hearing
In G v X School, the Court of Appeal held that where a disciplinary and
appeal hearing will determine whether an individual will continue to
have the right to practice a profession, the right to a fair trial
requires that an employee should be afforded an opportunity to be
legally represented.

G was a teaching assistant. An allegation was made that he had he had
kissed and had sexual contact with a 15 year-old boy. The school
governors conducted a disciplinary hearing. They dismissed him. They
then reported his dismissal to the Independent Safeguarding Authority
(ISA), as they were required to do, so that the ISA could determine
whether he should be placed on a ‘barred’ list of those unsuitable to
work with children. G challenged the governors’ decisions not to allow
him legal representation at the disciplinary or appeal hearing. He
argued that this violated his right to a fair trial under Article 6 of
the European Convention on Human Rights.

The Court of Appeal, held that Article 6 was engaged and did apply in
such circumstances. The disciplinary proceedings were a major factor in
determining a civil right since they had a substantial effect on the
claimant’s right to practise his profession. G’s right to practise his
profession was directly at stake in the barred list procedure and could
be irretrievably prejudiced by the disciplinary proceedings.  A fair
hearing therefore required the right to legal representation when a
career is threatened, since a lawyer might well make a great deal of
difference to the flavour and the emphasis of the case.