I have received an EMP report that has not be signed or dated by the doctor. Is this a legal document or is it inadmissable as evidence without a signature ?

Thanks

Evidence for what purpose? Tribunals don't really have rules of evidence but it's probably true that an unattributed document isn't really evidence of anything. At the very least you ought to be able to persuade a tribunal to take a dim view of an EMP who can't even get his own signature right...do you recognise the handwriting? Your local tribunals may well do: I know the writing of most of "my" regular EMPs (and pretty illegible in traditional doctor fashion it is too)

Brigid

Is it maybe one of the new computerised EMP reports?

There have been both Commissioner decisions and disussions on the site on the (very similar) computerised IB85 reports.

David

Commissioner Bano holds in R(IB) 7/05 that -

• there is no statutory requirement for an IB85 to be signed and the electronic IB85 being disputed in the appeal did not purport to contain an electronic signature;
  
  
• in proceedings to which the strict rules of evidence apply, section 7 of the Electronic Communications Act 2000 allows an electronic signature to be authenticated by means of a certificate in the prescribed form but it does not lay down a procedure which is to be used in every case where the authenticity of an electronic document or of electronic data is in dispute;
  
  
• even if an electronic form IB85 does not contain an electronic signature, section 7 has no application to tribunals constituted under the Social Security Act 1998, since the strict rules of evidence do not apply to proceedings before those tribunals.
  
  

    

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Thanks for the replies.

No this is not the new computerised version. I have spoken to the tribunals service about this. They are going to try and get confirmation from the EMP that he wrote the report. The Chair of Appeal has said that this can be used as evidence.