Longterm View Capital Limited v Ayuma (Appeal 5 of 2019) [2023] KEELRC 1217 (KLR)
The bottom line
#A Kenyan employer lost its appeal against a worker's injury award because it never produced its claimed settlement agreement or raised jurisdiction objections at trial.
What this practically means
#Executive summary
#Key legal issues
#Jurisdiction of the magistrates' court over work injury benefits claims
The court did not uphold the appellant's jurisdictional objection because it was raised for the first time on appeal and not pleaded before the trial court
The respondent argued, and the court accepted, that cases and appeals are decided on pleadings. The appellant never raised the WIBA jurisdiction issue in its motion of April 17, 2018, in the supporting or further affidavits, or in submissions before the magistrate. Raising it for the first time on appeal was an afterthought, so the trial court could not be faulted for entering default judgment.
Evidential burden of proving the settlement agreement
The appellant failed to discharge the burden under section 109 of the Evidence Act of proving the alleged settlement agreement
Section 109 of the Evidence Act casts an evidential burden on any party alleging the existence of a fact. The appellant asserted a settlement under which the respondent received Kshs 203,435/- but never produced the agreement before the trial court, nor filed a defence on merit raising it. Having failed to prove it, the appellant could not fault the magistrate, and the claim of double compensation/unjust enrichment failed.
Duty of a first appellate court
The court, as a first appellate court, reassessed the evidence and conclusions of the trial court without being bound by its findings
Relying on Selle v Associated Motor Boat Company Limited, the court restated that an appeal by way of retrial requires the appellate court to reconsider and evaluate the evidence itself and draw its own conclusions, while making allowance for the fact that it neither saw nor heard the witnesses. The court applied this standard to reanalyse the evidence before the magistrate.
Legal principles established
#- A party who asserts the existence of a fact, such as a settlement agreement, bears the evidential burden of producing proof of it; failure to do so before the trial court cannot be cured on appeal
Court orders
#- 1.The appeal is dismissed
- 2.The appellant to pay the costs of the appeal
- On appeal from
- Chief Magistrate's Court
- Civil Case No 7613 of 2015
- Jurisdiction invoked
- Appellate jurisdiction of the Employment and Labour Relations Court over appeals from the Magistrates' Courts in employment and labour disputes (section 9(b) of the Magistrates' Courts Act 2015 discussed)
Key timeline
#Practical implications
#Frequently asked questions
#Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Longterm View Capital Limited v Ayuma (Appeal 5 of 2019) [2023] KEELRC 1217 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2023). Not stated in the judgment (memorandum of appeal dated March 1, 2019). Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelrc/2023/1217/eng@2023-05-19
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.