JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
1. This appeal arises from the ruling of the Employment and Labour Relations Court (ELRC), formally the Industrial Court (Rika, J.) delivered on the 13th of October, 2011 dismissing a Preliminary Objection (PO) raised by the appellant herein. The substance of the PO was that the suit filed by the respondent herein was invalid for the reason that they did not exhaust the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanism set out under Part VIII of the Labour Relations Act, 2007 (LRA). As a consequence, it was contended, the ELRC lacked jurisdiction to hear and determine the claim. Although, as we shall see, the appellant has raised seven grounds of appeal in his memorandum, the main issue for our determination is whether the PO was well founded in law, and this calls for the true construction and intent of Part VIII (Part 8) of the LRA.
2. The dispute itself is fairly simple and it is ironic that it remains undetermined seven years since it arose, despite the peremptory…