Adino & another v Mlongo (Miscellaneous Cause E092 of 2024) [2025] KEELRC 79 (KLR)
The bottom line
#What this practically means
#Executive summary
#Questions the Court framed
#The issues the Court set itself to decide, in its own words.
- 1.Whether the Court should review or set aside its directive requiring the Applicants to deposit the entire decretal amount within 14 days failing which leave to appeal out of time would lapse
- 2.Whether the application was filed out of time given that the 14-day period had lapsed
- 3.Whether the Court should enlarge time or accept a vehicle logbook as alternative security
Key legal issues
#Effect of lapse of conditional leave to appeal out of time
The leave granted conditionally on deposit of the decretal sum lapsed automatically on 11th November 2024 upon non-compliance, leaving nothing to review or stop
The Court construed the word 'lapse' in its 28th October 2024 ruling using the Oxford English Dictionary, holding that 'lapse' marks the point after which the doing of the act becomes ineffectual or void. The Applicants admitted non-deposit and moved the Court only on the 14th day, after the orders had taken effect.
Whether financial hardship and offer of alternative security warrant exercise of review discretion
Even if such grounds were raised, the discretion could not assist the Applicants because the leave had already lapsed and review would serve no useful purpose
The Applicants relied on authority that discretion to review should serve a useful purpose and that no party should be denied access to justice absent obstruction or delay. But having admitted non-compliance and having moved Court after the lapse, their application was futile - akin to flogging a dead horse.
Legal principles established
#- Where a conditional order provides that leave shall automatically lapse on non-compliance, non-compliance within the stated period renders the leave ineffectual and void, and nothing remains for the Court to review or arrest
- Discretion to vary, set aside or review earlier orders should only be exercised if it would serve a useful purpose
Court orders
#- 1.The Applicants' application dated 11th November 2024 is dismissed
- 2.No order as to costs
The bench
#One judgment of the whole court — no separate or dissenting opinions.
Wrote the judgment
- Jurisdiction invoked
- Inherent review/enlargement-of-time jurisdiction of the Employment and Labour Relations Court over its own prior conditional leave orders
Relief refused
#Review or setting aside of the order to deposit the entire decretal amount of Kshs. 507,400/-
The conditional leave had already automatically lapsed before the application was heard; nothing remained to review
Extension of the 14-day deposit period to three months
The orders sought to arrest had already taken effect; the application was moved on the 14th day, after lapse
Permission to deposit the logbook of motor vehicle KBV 942P as security in lieu of cash
Moot as the leave had lapsed; the Respondent also challenged the vehicle's adequacy as a salvage vehicle until a valuation was later supplied
Costs
Dismissed with no order as to costs, since the Respondent refused to file submissions on the motion
Quotable passages
#Verbatim from the judgment, each located to the page it appears on in the official PDF — so these can be cited and checked directly.
the word 'lapsed' when used in this sense is to indicate something becomes inefiectual or void when done after the time allocated. In other words, neglect to exercise it within the limited time renders the doing of the act or thing, null and void.
The application by the Applicants is accordingly dismissed albeit with no order as to costs since the Respondent refused to file submissions on the motion. It is so ordered.
Issues in the judgment
#The judgment text contains recurring typographical errors where 'fi' appears as 'fi'/'efiect'/'sufier' (encoding artifact), e.g. 'refiect' and 'efiect'
Case number of the application itself is not stated in the ruling; only the underlying appeal (Kisumu ELRCA No. E067 of 2024) is identified
Key timeline
#Practical implications
#Frequently asked questions
#Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Adino & another v Mlongo (Miscellaneous Cause E092 of 2024) [2025] KEELRC 79 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2025). Ruling on Application dated 11th November 2024 (in Kisumu ELRCA No. E067 of 2024). Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelrc/2025/79/eng@2025-01-23
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.