The Labour Court's different approach to the deemed
withdrawal of review applications
This article was prepared by Neil Searle and candidate Emma
Alimohammadi.
The procedural directives issued by the Judge President of the
Labour Court in the 2013 Practice Manual have played an invaluable
role in promoting consistency and certainty in the practices of the
Labour Court, particularly in relation to the prosecution of review
applications under section 145 of the Labour Relations Act, 1995
(LRA). However, one such directive has, despite the best intentions
of the Judge President, resulted in considerable procedural
uncertainty.
The offending directive is contained in paragraph 11.2 of the
Practice Manual and provides that, in a review application, the
record of the relevant arbitration proceedings must be filed within
60 days of the date on which the applicant is advised by the
registrar of the Labour Court that the record has been received
and, if the applicant
