Joseph Mchere Aoko v Civicon Limited

The former Industrial Court was a statutory creation, not a constitutional court. The old Constitution defined it as a subordinate court amenable to High Court supervision. Section 27 of the Labour Institutions Act purporting to confer a direct right of appeal to the Court of Appeal conflicted with sections 64 and 65 of the retired Constitution, and by section 3 of that Constitution the constitutional provisions prevailed, rendering the statutory right of appeal void and incapable of being enjoyed.

The court rejected the argument that the post-2010 date of the award conferred a right of appeal, holding that jurisdiction cannot be conferred by 'the administrative dictates of dates and times'. Further, Article 164(3) appeals must be from courts presided over by judges appointed under Article 166(2); the former Industrial Court's lay members did not qualify, so its decisions could not be the subject of an Article 164(3) appeal.

Section 22 of the Sixth Schedule requires pending judicial proceedings to continue before the same court or a corresponding court. The High Court cannot hear such appeals because Article 165(5) ousts its jurisdiction over matters reserved to the Article 162(2) courts. The Employment and Labour Relations Court, established under Article 162(2)(a) with the same status as the High Court and vested with exclusive and appellate jurisdiction by section 12 of the Industrial Court Act 2011, is the corresponding court.