Judges, lawyers hold forum to improve adjudication on labour matters

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3 years ago

As a way of improving labour laws in Nigeria, members of the legal profession on Friday converged at a Bar and the Bench Forum, organised by the NationaI Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) in Abuja.

At the Forum, which was part of the activities to commemorate the 2022/2023 legal year of the Court, its President of the Court, Justice Benedict Kanyip responded to questions bordering on the practice directions of the court issued earlier this year.

He explained that, where a process is not properly filed, the court will dismiss it and that the litigant can re-file it after doing the needful, if so wish.

According to the NICN President, the error of the registry cannot bind on the court, adding however that, the court is studying the implementation of the practice directions and will review it in the future, if need be.

Justice Kanyip said, the Forum was designed to provide an opportunity for lawyers and Judges of the court to interface and take critical look at labour laws in the country.

He added that the forum would put to rest some misgivings and misunderstanding about what the Industrial Court stands for in the area of jurisprudence.

Answers were equally given in areas such as sexual harassment in work place, unfair labour practice and whether or not an employer under investigation for gross misconduct can resign from his employment.

In her speech, the President of the Industrial Court of Trinidad and Tobago, Mrs Deborah Thomas-Felix, said it was necessary for the court to engage the Bar and other judicial stakeholders in order to be at par with current trends.

She added that NICN can emulate her court where law lecturers, representatives of the International Labour Organisations (ILO) are mandated to conduct research to improve labour laws.

Justice Thomas-Felix further advised that a forum where the Bar, trade unions and court spend time analysing and not criticising issues in labour law to make things better, should be encouraged.

The chairman, NBA-SBL, Dr. Adeoye Adefulu, who joined the forum virtually, on his part said the focus of his association was to impact and influence and that, through the forum, people will be educated on how NIC work and reasons behind some of its decisions.

The chairman of the SBL-EIRC, Mr Ose Okpeku, reiterated that it was worrisome as some human resource personnel and legal practitioners were still stuck in applying common law in labour.

He said these practitioners had the mentality of master- servant relation between an employer and employee who could hire and fire at will.

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