Kenya Plantation & Agricultural Workers Union v Eastern Produce Kenya Limited [2018] KEELRC 1721 (KLR)
The bottom line
#A Kenyan employment court varied a consent order on money deposit because the agreed arrangement proved impracticable, while censuring both sides for litigating a trivial disagreement.
What this practically means
#Executive summary
#Key legal issues
#Variation of a consent order of court
The court has discretion to vary a consent order where, as here, the agreed mode of compliance (opening a joint interest earning account) has become impracticable; the court exercised that discretion by permitting deposit of the decretal sum in court pending appeal
The applicant sought variation of a consent order directing deposit of the decretal sum in a joint interest earning account, alleging impracticability of execution because the claimant could not meet the bank's requirements. The respondent opposed, alleging falsehoods and delay beyond the 21-day period. The court regarded the dispute as trivial, capable of being resolved between the parties, and inclined to allow the application in the interest of justice rather than to endorse escalation of a trivial disagreement into formal proceedings.
Abuse of court process over trivial matters
The court censured both parties for litigating a trivial variation issue that should have been settled by a chat inter partes, describing the proceedings as bordering on an abuse of process
The court observed that the hullabaloo over a mere change in the depository of the decretal sum was disproportionate, and that the parties ought to have resolved it informally. It invoked the principle objective of the ELRC under section 3 of the Employment and Labour Relations Court Act, 2014 to remind parties of their duty to facilitate the just, expeditious, efficient and proportionate resolution of disputes. However, this censure did not prevent the court from granting the substantive relief.
Legal principles established
#- Parties are mandated to assist the court in furtherance of the court's objective of just, expeditious, efficient and proportionate resolution of disputes under section 3 of the Employment and Labour Relations Court Act, 2014
Court orders
#- 1.The consent dated 14th May, 2018 be varied with an order of depositing the decretal sum in court pending hearing and determination of the appeal
- 2.Each party to bear their own costs of the application
- Jurisdiction invoked
- Employment and Labour Relations Court Act, 2014 (section 3); the court's discretion in an application to vary a consent order
Key timeline
#Practical implications
#Frequently asked questions
#Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Kenya Plantation & Agricultural Workers Union v Eastern Produce Kenya Limited [2018] KEELRC 1721 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2018). Not stated in the judgment (application dated 6th June, 2018). Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelrc/2018/1721/eng@2018-06-20
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.