Francis Joseph Kimele v Teachers Service Commission [2014] KEELRC 678 (KLR)
The bottom line
#Kenya's Industrial Court dismissed a bid to revive a decades-old employment dispute, confirming it cannot extend filing deadlines or accept procedures meant for other courts.
What this practically means
#Executive summary
#Key legal issues
#Legality of the mode of application before the Industrial Court
The Originating Motion under the Civil Procedure Act and Limitation of Actions Act is not a competent procedure in the Industrial Court
Industrial Court procedure is specifically governed by the Industrial Court (Procedure) Rules 2010. The Civil Procedure Act applies only to the extent contemplated by those Rules. An application styled 'Originating Motion' is unknown to the industrial justice system, and neither such a Motion nor any other Motion can invoke the court's power where none exists in law.
Power to extend time for filing a time-barred employment claim
The Industrial Court lacks power to extend time for filing employment claims that are statute-barred
A succession of judicial precedents by Judges of the Industrial Court has established that no law presently enables the Industrial Court to extend time in employment disputes. The sections of the Limitation of Actions Act invoked by the Applicant cannot confer a jurisdiction the Court does not possess under its governing statutes and Rules.
Effect of prior choice of forum and prior High Court litigation
The Applicant, having elected the High Court forum in 1999 and obtained damages, could not later seek additional relief in a different forum, nor consolidate a stale second High Court suit into the Industrial Court
The Applicant sued in High Court Civil Suit 2343 of 1999, was awarded damages, and has already received Kshs. 1,440,260 under the decree. His second suit, No. 2155 of 2001, lay unprosecuted for twelve years. He should have sought transfer of that suit to the Industrial Court rather than consolidation, and the Industrial Court could not issue orders over a matter pending in the High Court.
Legal principles established
#- Procedure in the Industrial Court is exclusively regulated by the Industrial Court (Procedure) Rules 2010, and the Civil Procedure Act applies only to the extent contemplated by those Rules
- The Industrial Court has no statutory power to extend time for filing employment claims that are statute-barred
- A party who made a choice of forum, was heard and obtained remedies cannot return to a different forum years later to seek further relief on the same dispute
Court orders
#- 1.The Application dated 7th March 2013 is hereby rejected with no order on the costs
- Jurisdiction invoked
- Section 3(a) of the Civil Procedure Act, Order 50(1) of the Civil Procedure Rules, and Sections 27 and 28 of the Limitation of Actions Act, Cap 22, read with the Industrial Court (Procedure) Rules 2010
Key timeline
#Practical implications
#Frequently asked questions
#Later judgments citing this (2)
#Judgments in the corpus that rely on this one. Where the Court said how it treated the authority, that is shown.
- Mutinda Anthony Nzioka v Teachers Service Commission [2014] KEELRC 917 (KLR)[2014] KEELRC 917 (KLR)28 Mar 2014
- James Davies Njuguna v Simon Mithamo & 3 others [2014] KEELRC 619 (KLR)[2014] KEELRC 619 (KLR)28 Feb 2014followed
Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Francis Joseph Kimele v Teachers Service Commission [2014] KEELRC 678 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2014). Ex Parte Originating Motion filed 18th March 2013, application dated 7th March 2013. Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelrc/2014/678/eng@2014-01-16
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.