How powerful is the Industrial Court?

How powerful is the Industrial Court?

The Industrial Court is so powerful that the Court of Appeal and Privy Council are barred, in some instances, from interfering with the Court’s decision. Yet, some refer to the Industrial Court as a “toothless tiger” because it lacks enforcement power.

As a matter of housekeeping, the Industrial Court usually orders employers to compensate the Claimant when the Court determines that the employee was unfairly dismissed. However, some employers pay little attention or outrightly ignore the Court’s instructions. When this happens, the aggrieved person has to apply for a judgment summons at the High Court to compel the employer to pay or risk being committed to prison.

Be that as it may.

Appellate Courts (Court of Appeal and Privy Council) can only interfere with the Industrial Court’s decision under the circumstances below:

1.      If the Industrial Court lacks jurisdiction to hear a matter. However, the Appellate court is barred from interfering, even if the Industrial Court lacked jurisdiction, unless the Defendant raised the point before the order or award was made.

2.      If the Court exceeded its jurisdiction. For academic purposes, let us say that the Court’s jurisdiction allows it to grant compensation up to $50,000. However, the Court erroneously granted an $ 80,000 award. In this case, the Court would have opened itself to appeal because it exceeded its jurisdiction.

3.      That the order or the award of the Court was obtained by fraud.

4.      Any finding or decision of the Court is erroneous in point of law.

5.      Some other specific illegality substantially affected the matter’s merits during the proceedings.

Supporting case law –

Blackburn v LIAT (1974) Ltd [2020] UKPC 9

In Blackburn v Liat (1974), the Industrial Court determined that Mr Blackburn was unfairly dismissed, but he contributed to his termination. Therefore, the Court discounted the award by 65% to reflect Mr Blackburn’s contribution. Unsatisfied with the Industrial Court’s decision, Mr Blackburn appealed to the Court of Appeal on a point of fact. He argued that the discount should not have applied, which the Court of Appeal agreed with and quashed the 65% discount. The matter was sent back to the Industrial Court to be reassessed. Liat was not satisfied with the decision and appealed to the Privy Council. The Privy Council determined that the Court of Appeal erred in its conclusion and reinstated the Industrial Court’s decision.

This case reinforces that decisions made based on facts at the Industrial Court are not to be interfered with by higher courts.

Antigua and Barbuda Transport Board v Anderson Carty et al [2017]

In this case, the Industrial Court had given the Transport Board some instructions, which the Board did not comply with. Eventually, the Court granted judgment in default against the Board because it refused to comply with the Court’s instructions. Feeling aggrieved by the decision, the Board appealed to the Court of Appeal, arguing that the Industrial Court had exceeded its jurisdiction in granting a default judgment. The Court of Appeal agreed with the Board, highlighting that the Industrial Court did not have the power to grant judgment in default.

Specifically, the Court of Appeal stated that where “a statute provides a specific remedy for a breach of its orders, the party seeking to enforce the breach  cannot resort to  other  remedies  not specifically provided in the statute…..” Rightly, this case is a landmark decision, which has caused the Industrial Court’s Procedure Rules to be amended from granting a default judgment to an ex parte (one-sided) trial.

Conclusion

In the cases above, it was demonstrated when/how a higher court can/should interfere with the Industrial Court’s ruling. Given the Industrial Court’s specialized construct, most decisions remain unchallenged. And, when decisions are challenged in the higher courts, most decisions are upheld.

Javonson Willock

Employment & Labour Relations Consultant

[email protected]

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