Finality of the Court of Appeal on Labour and Industrial Matters and its Impact on the Crystallisation of Labour Jurisprudence in Nigeria

Abstract

The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 makes the Court of

Appeal the final court in civil appeals emanating from the National

Industrial Court. A critical examination reveals that the jurisdiction of the

Court appears to go beyond the mere interpretation of law to crystallisation

of labour jurisprudence in Nigeria. It is within this context that this paper

examines the suitability or otherwise of the Court of Appeal as the final court

to affirm the emerging labour jurisprudence. This paper analyses the

relevant law, the decisions of the National Industrial Court and the review

of same by the Court of Appeal. It reveals that the expertise at the level of

the National Industrial Court is absent at the Court of Appeal, thus,

resulting to a regime of conflicting decisions by the Court of Appeal. While

agreeing with the need for speedy dispensation of labour matters, the paper

argues that judges of the National Industrial Court should be elevated to the

Court of Appeal, or in the alternative, a National Labour Appeal Court,

which is expertly constituted, should be established to hear appeals from the

National Industrial Court.