Employment Tribunals

Both the Employment Tribunal and Employment Appeal Tribunal found in favour of Mrs Nolan and granted an order for remuneration for a one-month period.

Court of Appeal

Under the preliminary ruling procedure the Court of Appeal asked the Court of Justice of the European Union whether the duty to consult with an employee representative arose on a 'proposal' or a 'decision' to close the base. The European Court declined jurisdiction over the issue.

Supreme Court

The United States appealed to the Supreme Court on two key grounds. Firstly that the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 should not apply to public administrative establishments and secondly that the Secretary of State had exceeded the powers conferred by section 2 of the European Communities Act 1972 by going further than EU law required. These appeals were dismissed on the basis that just because legislation does not contain a clear exemption does not mean that the courts should read any such exemption into the legislation. On the second ground it was held that because the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 had established a unified domestic regime the Secretary of State had not exceeded his powers when making the 1995 regulations.

Lord Carnwath dissented on this point and noted the importance of limiting the ministerial power to legislate outside of the normal parliamentary process.