A domestic inquiry ("DI") is an
internal hearing conducted by the employer to provide an employee
an opportunity to provide an explanation for misconduct alleged
against the employee, before making a finding of guilt or
otherwise. It is essentially a fact-finding exercise where there
will be a prosecuting officer (usually a representative of the
employer) and the accused employee, both of whom may call witnesses
or produce documents before a panel or a single person who will
decide whether the accused employee is guilty of the alleged
misconduct.
The jurisprudence on the requirement (or otherwise) of holding a DI
prior to the dismissal of an employee and on how the Industrial
Court should approach the matter if a DI is held, has wound a long
path in the past two decades. Some principles in relation to DI
that were established over the years may be summarised as follows:
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