Woi Samuel Chege Gitau and 283 others v Attorney General [2019] KEELRC 779 (KLR)
The bottom line
#Kenya's Employment Court dismissed two police officers' bid to rejoin a group compensation claim, confirming review only works for clear errors, not appeals.
What this practically means
#Executive summary
#Key legal issues
#Whether grounds for review under rule 33(1) of the ELRC (Procedure) Rules 2016 were established
The application for review was not merited and was dismissed
The court examined the averments and found none of the statutory grounds for review existed. There was no error on record, no new evidence not previously before the court, and nothing requiring clarification. The proper remedy for a party dissatisfied with the court's own orders is an appeal to the Court of Appeal, not a review. The application was accordingly dismissed.
Whether an order of 17th February 2015 excluding the Applicants existed capable of review
The court found it had not granted any orders on 17th February 2015 as prayed, so there was nothing to review
The court recalled that by its judgment dated 11th June 2018 it had set aside an earlier order allowing inclusion of the Applicants, and stated it had not granted any orders on 17th February 2015 as prayed by the Applicants which would warrant review.
Whether the Applicants' names were irregularly removed from the claim by Lt. Col. Peter Ngari Kagume
The court did not make any finding on the merits of the withdrawal; it disposed of the matter purely on the absence of review grounds
Although the Applicants averred that their names were inserted in a notice of withdrawal without their knowledge and that no Civil Procedure Rules procedure was followed in removing them, the court did not adjudicate that dispute, resting its decision instead on the absence of rule 33(1) grounds and the impropriety of asking the court to sit on appeal on its own orders.
Legal principles established
#- Review may only issue upon an error apparent on the face of the record, discovery of new evidence, or a matter requiring clarification under rule 33(1) of the ELRC (Procedure) Rules 2016; a party aggrieved by a court's own orders must appeal, not seek review
Court orders
#- 1.The application for review was found not merited and was dismissed accordingly
- Jurisdiction invoked
- ELRC (Procedure) Rules 2016, rule 33(1) (review jurisdiction); Civil Procedure Act, section 7 cited by claimants
Key timeline
#Practical implications
#Frequently asked questions
#Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Woi Samuel Chege Gitau and 283 others v Attorney General [2019] KEELRC 779 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2019). Notice of Motion dated 17th August 2018 (arising from claim before M.N. Nduma, Principal Judge). Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelrc/2019/779/eng@2019-09-18
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.