CHIWESHE JP: The
applicants were the recipients of an arbitral award granted on 22 July 2009
against the respondent. In this
application they seek the procedural relief of registration of the award as a
judgment of this court in terms of s 98 (14) as read with s 98 subs (13) and
(15) of the Labour Act [Cap 28:07]. They do not seek any substantive relief.
The
respondent has opposed this application on the grounds that the award was
irregularly obtained. An appeal against
the grant of the award is pending in the Labour Court as well as an application
for stay of execution. The respondent
also argues that it is in the interests of justice and public policy that such
a questionable labour award be first tested in the courts before it is registered.
I
agree with the applicants that the respondent's opposition cannot be
sustained. The registration of an
arbitral award does not in any way affect the substantive rights of the parties
concerned. The purpose of registration
is merely to facilitate the enforcement of such an order through the mechanism
availed to the High Court or the Magistrates Court, namely the office of the
Deputy Sheriff or the Messenger of Court, respectively. Thus whether registered or not, an arbitral
award remains binding on the parties who may fulfil its terms even in the
absence of registration. Where one of
the parties is reluctant to fulfil his obligations in terms of the award, the
legislature, through s 98 (14) of the Labour Act, has provided for its
registration with those court clothed with the power to enforce judgment in
order that the aggrieved party may, through the powers given to such courts,
enforce the award.
In
an application such as the present this court is not required to look at the
merits of the award - all that is required of this court is that it must
satisfy itself that the award was granted by a competent arbitrator, that the
award sounds in money, that the award is still extant and that it has not been
set aside on review or appeal and that the litigants are the parties the subject
of the arbitral award. There must also
be furnished a certificate given under the hand of the arbitrator validating
the arbitral award.
It
is clear that the respondent wishes to challenge the grant of the award on the
merits. What has been lodged is an
appeal. The noting of an appeal in the Labour Court does not suspend the
decision appealed against. In any event
the appeal is yet to be determined. The
application for stay of execution filed with the Labour Court is also yet to be
determined.
For as long as the arbitral award has not been
suspended or set aside on review or appeal in terms of the Labour Act, there is
no basis upon which this court may decline its registration. For this reason, the application must
succeed.
It
is accordingly ordered as follows:
1. The arbitral award handed down in applicants'
favour on 22 July 2009 be and is hereby registered as an order of the High
Court.
2. The
respondent be and is hereby ordered to pay to each applicant the amounts due to
him in terms of the arbitral award.
3. The
respondent be and is hereby ordered to pay the costs of this application.
Mbidzo
Muchadeham & Makoni, applicants' legal practitioners
Hussein Ranchod & Company, respondent's legal
practitioners
