Employment and Labour Relations Court judge Lady Justice Jemimah Keli has raised concern over a shortage of judges at Kenya’s Employment and Labour Relations Court, warning that the 17 judges serving nationwide face mounting pressure from labour disputes.
Speaking on Radio Generation on Tuesday, Justice Keli said the court continued to rely on alternative dispute resolution mechanisms to ease its workload, with labour officers resolving more than 10,000 disputes through conciliation in the past year.
“I was informed by the Commissioner of Labour early this year that in the last like one year they have been able to get over 11,000 disputes reported to conciliation,” she said.
She said the resolutions had helped reduce the number of disputes reaching the courts, which have limited judicial capacity.
“We only have 17 judges in the employment court. That's a very small number in the whole country,” she said, adding that 12 judges were based in Nairobi.
The court previously had 21 judges, four of whom were elevated to the Court of Appeal.
Justice Keli said she hoped the Judicial Service Commission would recruit more judges to strengthen the court's capacity.
Magistrates are also being given jurisdiction to hear employment disputes involving workers earning Sh80,000 and below, in an effort to ease pressure on the court.
Justice Keli said conciliation had long played a significant role in resolving labour disputes before they escalated into litigation.
Under the process, labour officers bring employers and employees together to seek an agreement, helping prevent prolonged disputes, strikes and lockouts.
She said efficient resolution of workplace disputes was particularly important in protecting workers' livelihoods and maintaining productivity.
“Essentially, interpretation of the law, interpretation of the constitution were among the issues that might require determination by a judge rather than resolution through alternative mechanisms,” she said.
Justice Keli also highlighted the constitutional right to strike, noting that disputes must follow procedures set out under the Labour Relations Act.
Where conciliation fails, either party may take the dispute to court.
She said alternative justice mechanisms were not intended to replace the courts but to complement them by resolving suitable disputes more efficiently.
The approach is part of wider efforts to improve access to justice while reducing the backlog of cases in Kenya's judicial system.