Definite Employment Contracts And Recourse Before The Industrial Tribunal

Following the judgment Galea Waldemar David vs University of Malta (Appeal no. 35/2018), delivered by the Court of Appeal on the 25th of January 2019, the jurisdiction of the Industrial Tribunal (the "Tribunal") was put under scrutiny. In brief, the University appealed from a decision of the Tribunal which had declared itself as having the competence to decide on matters relating to unjust dismissal of an employee engaged under a fixed term contract. The Court of Appeal noted the lack of clarity in the legal drafting, which in turn gave rise to anomalous situations. The Court of Appeal analysed various judgments and concluded that given that the complaint did not fall within the competence of the Tribunal in terms of Art. 75 (1)(a) and (b) of the Employment and Industrial Relations Act (the "EIRA")¹, the tribunal could not exercise jurisdiction.