Republic v Director of Occupational Safety and Health Services & another; Freedom Airline Express Limited (Exparte Applicant) (Judicial Review Application E033 of 2024) [2025] KEELRC 1727 (KLR)
The bottom line
#Kenya's Employment Court refused to quash an enhanced work injury award because it had already been adopted as a judgment, so the employer's only option was appealing.
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 ex-parte Applicant's right to fair hearing was infringed by the 1st Respondent's decision of 16th May 2024
- 2.Whether the substantive Motion for judicial review is merited
- 3.Whether the orders sought (certiorari) can be granted given the award was adopted as a judgment of the ELRC
- 4.Who should bear costs
Key legal issues
#Fair hearing before the Director OSH on objection under WIBA
The court did not reach a substantive finding on fair hearing, disposing instead on the exhaustion/adoption point; the Applicant's grievance was held not amenable to judicial review in this court
The court noted the statutory scheme under sections 51-52 of WIBA: objection to the Director within 60 days, the Director's reply within 14 days, then an appeal to the Industrial Court/ELRC within 30 days. Since the enhanced award had already been adopted by the ELRC on 9 July 2024, the Applicant could not seek certiorari from the same court; its forum was the Court of Appeal.
Effect of adoption of the Director's award by the ELRC
After adoption, the award became a judgment of the ELRC and the court cannot be asked to quash its own decision by judicial review
The court reasoned that judicial review lies against the Director's decision, but once that decision was adopted as a court judgment, quashing it would amount to the ELRC sitting in appeal over its own judgment. The proper remedy is an appeal to the Court of Appeal.
Legal principles established
#- Once a Director's award under WIBA is adopted as a judgment of the ELRC, the only recourse against it is an appeal to the Court of Appeal, not judicial review before the same court
Court orders
#- 1.The application for judicial review is dismissed
- 2.No order of costs
The bench
#One judgment of the whole court — no separate or dissenting opinions.
Wrote the judgment
- Jurisdiction invoked
- Sections 8 and 9 of the Law Reform Act, Cap 26; Sections 1A, 1B and 3A of the Civil Procedure Act; Order 53 of the Civil Procedure Rules, 2010
Relief refused
#Judicial review writ of certiorari quashing the 1st Respondent's decision dated 16th May 2024
The award had already been adopted as a judgment of the ELRC; the Applicant's recourse is an appeal to the Court of Appeal, not a request for the ELRC to quash its own decision
Costs of the application
Court declined to award costs to either party
Costs
No order of costs - each party bears its own costs
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.
This court is however being asked to quash its own decision and thus sitting on appeal of its own judgment.
I do not in the circumstances find the application for Judicial review warranted and dismiss it accordingly. There will be no order of costs.
As demonstrated in this judgment, the procedure to be adopted by an objector upon an award being given by the director is to appeal to this court.
Issues in the judgment
#The judgment contains contradictory descriptions of the award amount and of which party filed the objection
The judgment inconsistently records the quantum (Kshs 21,918,620/- in paragraph 49 versus Kshs 19,750,595.80 in the Applicant's pleadings)
Key timeline
#Practical implications
#Frequently asked questions
#Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Republic v Director of Occupational Safety and Health Services & another; Freedom Airline Express Limited (Exparte Applicant) (Judicial Review Application E033 of 2024) [2025] KEELRC 1727 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2025). Judicial Review application pursuant to Notice of Motion dated 13th August 2024 (Nairobi ELRC). Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelrc/2025/1727/eng@2025-06-11
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.