Kenya Union of Pre-Primary Education Teachers v Secretary, Laikipia County Public Service Board & another (Employment and Labour Relations Cause 14 of 2020) [2023] KEELRC 2003 (KLR)
The bottom line
#A Kenyan employment court refused to reopen a finished teacher hiring case, confirming that once disputes are settled and executed, courts cannot revisit them.
What this practically means
#Executive summary
#Key legal issues
#Whether the court is functus officio and without jurisdiction to entertain the application
The court is functus officio. The judgment of February 25, 2021, the conciliator's reports adopted as orders of the court, and the subsequent execution (issuance of all 212 appointment letters) exhausted the court's decision-making powers; the applicant was not among the 212 qualified teachers.
The court traced the history of the judgment of Marete J of February 25, 2021, the appointment of a Conciliator, the agreements of July 13, 2021, November 18, 2021 and July 14, 2022 adopted as court orders, and their full execution. Relying on the Supreme Court's articulation of the functus officio doctrine, the court held that a decision-maker may exercise its powers only once in relation to the same matter and that the settlement orders, never challenged, bind the parties. Lucy Wanjiku Waweru was not in the list of 212 qualified teachers, and the application was an afterthought and an abuse of process.
Whether the application is merited
The application lacks merit; it is an abuse of judicial time, scandalous and without legal basis, and was dismissed with costs.
The applicant, though grievant number 241 among the 428 grievants in the original suit, did not meet the qualification criteria agreed before the conciliator and thus was excluded from the 212 teachers to be employed. The respondents demonstrated full compliance with the judgment and adopted settlement orders. The application was filed on the very day the last of the 212 grievants collected her appointment letter, evidencing a tactic to prolong proceedings indefinitely.
Legal principles established
#- Once a court has rendered final judgment and its orders have been adopted and executed, it becomes functus officio and lacks jurisdiction to entertain new matters that ought to have been raised earlier.
- Litigation must come to an end and its conclusion must have finality; a matter cannot be reopened merely because a party is dissatisfied with the outcome.
Court orders
#- 1.Dismissal of the application dated May 15, 2023 with costs to the respondents
- 2.Caution to parties against invoking the jurisdiction of the court through alien procedures
- Jurisdiction invoked
- Section 12 of the Employment Act and sections 1A and 3A of the Civil Procedure Act
Key timeline
#Practical implications
#Frequently asked questions
#Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Kenya Union of Pre-Primary Education Teachers v Secretary, Laikipia County Public Service Board & another (Employment and Labour Relations Cause 14 of 2020) [2023] KEELRC 2003 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2023). Not stated on the face of the ruling (ELRC cause, Nyeri). Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelrc/2023/2003/eng@2023-08-01
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.