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Determining jurisdiction at conciliation and arbitration

Jurisdiction is the power or competence of a Court to hear and determine an issue between parties, as well as the power to compel the parties to give effect to a judgment. The approach of a CCMA commissioner faced with a jurisdictional challenge is therefore an important issue that requires legal certainty. Unfortunately, our case law has not been uniform with regard to the various issues surrounding jurisdiction of the CCMA, for example: what facts need to be established in order for the CCMA to have jurisdiction and at what stage of the process should a commissioner deal with the issue of jurisdiction. The purpose of this treatise is to consider the various approaches of our courts to the issue of the jurisdiction of the CCMA and to determine what approach is practically best suited for CCMA commissioners when the issue of jurisdiction is in dispute. The research methodology is based on the various approaches of our courts to the jurisdiction of the CCMA as set out in Bombardier Transportation v Mtiya [2010] 8 BLLR 840 (LC). The more practical “third” approach as proposed by van Niekerk J, in Bombardier Transportation v Mtiya [2010] 8 BLLR 840 (LC), has been favoured by the Labour Court and the CCMA following the judgment. The correct approach of a commissioner when dealing with specific jurisdictional facts such as condonation and the jurisdiction of a bargaining council will further be considered. However, the predicament that commissioners face is that the Labour Appeal Court’s approach to jurisdiction is in conflict with that of the Labour Court’s approach. In conclusion, it is submitted that the Labour Appeal Court must pronounce on the issue of jurisdiction, taking into consideration the approach of the Labour Court as to create certainty regarding the correct approach of a commissioner when faced with a jurisdictional challenge.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:nmmu/vital:29365
Date January 2017
CreatorsSnyman, Chanel
PublisherNelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Faculty of Law
Source SetsSouth African National ETD Portal
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis, Masters, LLM
Formatiii, 55 leaves, pdf
RightsNelson Mandela Metropolitan University

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