COMPOSITION OF THE INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS COURT

 The Industrial Relations Court is composed of the following:

The Chairperson heads the Court.

REMEDIES

The IRC as per the Labour Relations Act and the Employment Act has powers to grant the following remedies:-

REPRESENTATION

A party to any matter before the IRC may appear in person or assisted or represented by a member or official of the organization, a co-employee, labour officer, or any other person that a party so appoints or by a legal practitioner but with the permission of the Court.

 APPEALS

An aggrieved party may appeal from the decision of the IRC to the High Court of Malawi but only on matters of law or jurisdiction. Otherwise, on matters of fact, the decision of the IRC is final and binding.

WHERE AND HOW TO START CASES IN THE INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS COURT

You simply have to call at any Court (subordinate courts) in the country and ask for forms for the Industrial Relations Court. The Court Clerks will be more than willing to assist you complete the forms and such forms will in turn be filed with the Industrial Relations Court. There are two Regional Courts in the country where the Industrial Relations Court has offices. We have Blantyre-Limbe in the South and Lilongwe in the Centre. Plans are underway to open a centre in the City of Mzuzu in the North. Meanwhile the Lilongwe registry deals with cases from the North. The Chairperson periodically sits in Mzuzu to hear cases from the Northern Region.

SOURCES OF LAW ON WHICH THE INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS COURT DERIVES ITS AUTHORITY

The Industrial Relations Court in deciding cases uses the following sources: