Julia Cooper Rust v Academy of Dance & Arts Limited [2020] KEELRC 951 (KLR)
The bottom line
#A Kenyan employment court corrected one finding in its judgment but refused to reopen its damages analysis, confirming that review is not a second chance to argue a lost case.
What this practically means
#Executive summary
#Key legal issues
#Whether withdrawal of Civil Suit No. 1026 of 2015 by consent and consolidation of the claim as a counterclaim meant the counterclaim was not an abuse of court process
Yes - the Court reviewed the judgment to hold the counterclaim was not an abuse of process
The parties had entered a consent filed on 11.01.2017 withdrawing the magistrate’s court suit and consolidating it as a counterclaim in the present suit. The claimant conceded this amounted to a justifiable ground for review. The Court found the counterclaim was filed subsequent to the consent dispensing with the magistrate’s court suit and therefore not an abuse of process.
Whether the applicant established a ground for review to be awarded special damages of Kshs. 12,255,471.00
No - no error apparent on the face of the record or sufficient reason analogous to the rule 33 grounds was established
The applicant sought to buttress its case and have the Court reconsider its analysis of the evidence. RW2, the applicant’s accountant, had testified he had no evidence that students left for Dance Centre Kenya and had not filed audit reports, so there was no causation between the claimed losses and the claimant’s conduct. The section 119 Evidence Act presumption was misconceived where the counterclaim had plainly failed on the evidence. The grievance amounted to grounds of appeal, not review.
Legal principles established
#- A review may be granted only to correct an apparent error or omission on the part of the court, which must be self-evident and not require elaborate argument; dissatisfaction with findings and reasoning constitutes grounds of appeal, not review
- A court cannot review its own decision merely because a party asks it to reconsider its analysis; that would be sitting in appeal on its own decision
Court orders
#- 1.The Court reviewed part of its judgment dated and delivered on 31.05.2019 and found and held that the counterclaim was not filed as an abuse of court process in view of the order by consent withdrawing civil suit no. 1026 of 2015 in the Chief Magistrate’s Court at Nairobi
- 2.Each party to bear own costs of the application
- Jurisdiction invoked
- Rule 33(1)(b) and (d) of the Employment and Labour Relations Court (Procedure) Rules
Key timeline
#Practical implications
#Frequently asked questions
#Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Julia Cooper Rust v Academy of Dance & Arts Limited [2020] KEELRC 951 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2020). ELRC 1763 of 2015. Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelrc/2020/951/eng@2020-06-05
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.