MPs approve sh1.35b for recruiting three Industrial Court judges

Parliament has approved sh1.35b for recruiting three Industrial Court Judges in the next financial year, which begins on July 1.

This follows a report by the budget committee on the National Budget Framework Paper for the financial year 2024/25 to 2028/29.

The committee, which is chaired by Patrick Isiagi Opolot (Kachumbala County), told the House on Wednesday, January 31, that the Industrial Court currently has only two judges; the acting head judge and one acting judge.

“There is urgent need to recruit three more judges for the Court,” Opolot told the House which was chaired by the Deputy Speaker, Thomas Tayebwa, while presenting the committee report. Parliament is required by section 9(8) of the Public Finance Management Act 2015 and Rule 145 of the Rules of Procedure of the House to approve the committee report by February 1 of each year.

Opolot also said the committee was informed that section seven of the Amendment Act, 2021 provides for the positions of Registrar, Deputy Registrar and Assistant Registrar. The committee noted that the Amendment Act puts judicial officers at the Industrial Court on the same footing as their counterparts in the Judiciary.

“There is, therefore, need for the requisite budget of sh1.350b for the recruitment of the three judges,” it said.

The House also heard that the Court is currently premised in Ntinda in the building housing the National Council for the Youth, Women and Children and that the Court is greatly constrained in space. 

As a matter of priority, the MPs said the Court will require alternative premises to accommodate its entire staff and recommended that sh1.2b be provided to effectively work in an adequate space.

On May 17, 2022, the Industrial Court formally bid farewell to its Chief Judge, Justice Asaph Ruhinda Ntengye, as he officially handed over office after clocking his retirement age. He handed over office to Lady Justice Linda Lillian Tumusiime, who had been the Deputy Head of the Court.

Ntengye was commended for his tremendous contribution, which saw the Court grow from only three benches to now having two court halls.

The Industrial Court was established under the Labour Disputes (Arbitration and Settlement) Act, 2006 Cap 224, Laws of Uganda, and section 7. 2006.

The Court’s jurisdiction ambit are labour disputes referred to it by a party to a dispute where a labour officer has failed to dispose of the dispute within eight weeks under the Court’s regulations as requested under the Act, disputes referred by the Labour officer at the request of the party or on the officer’s own volition when is unable to resolve the dispute; or by responsible Minister on notice of an intended withdrawal of labour within five days.

Its judges are appointed by the President on the recommendation of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), and the appointees’ qualifications are similar to those of Judges of a High Court, with tenure of five years, though the Act is silent on whether their tenure is renewable.

Case backlog at 2,700

Justice Tumusiime revealed in May last year that the Court had a backlog of 2,750 cases and required six years to dispose of them. She attributed this backlog largely to the staffing gap at the Court among other factors.

“We are only two judges sitting as a panel serving a population of about eight million working Ugandans and the caseload right now is 2,750 cases which means on average each one of us has 1,300 cases to dispose of, which is humanely impossible. That would mean if the two judges are to do this work, we will dispose of it within six years,” she told members of the JSC during their maiden visit to the Court to familiarize themselves with its work on May 5, 2023.

“If the three other judges were appointed, we could save time and dispose of the cases within one year and two months. We, therefore, appeal to the appointing authority to look into this so that the objective of establishing this Court is fully realised,” she added.

The Court Judges are assisted by three other ministerial appointees—one as an independent member from a panel of five eminent Ugandans or representatives of employees or employers (who should hold the office for three years) and another being a representative of the employers selected from a panel of five persons nominated by the Federation of Employers.

The third ministerial appointee is a representative of the employees from a panel of five persons nominated by the Federation of Labour Unions. The tenure of the last two categories of court members is not prescribed.