The Report of the Royal Commission on Trade Unions and Employers’ Associations (1968) Cmnd 3623, known as the "Donovan Report", was an inquiry into the system of collective UK labour law, chaired by Lord Donovan and heavily influenced by one if its main authors, Sir Otto Kahn-Freund.
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The Donovan Report recommended a statutory system of remedies for unfair dismissal. The recommendation was put into the Industrial Relations Act 1971. Exclusive jurisdiction to hear complaints and give remedies was conferred upon the newly created National Industrial Relations Court. The Trade Union and Labour Relations Act 1974 soon replaced the unfair dismissal provisions, as was the National Industrial Relations Court with a system of Industrial Tribunals, since renamed Employment Tribunals. These have one legally qualified chairperson and two lay members, one representing unions and the other representing employers.
The present law is found in the Employment Rights Act 1996.