Industrial Court

The Industrial Court of Uganda is an established Court under the Labour Disputes (Arbitration and Settlement) Act, 2006 Cap 224, (LADASA), Laws of Uganda, section 7.

The Act was assented to on 24th May 2006; and commenced on the 7th August 2006 vide a Ministerial statutory instrument.

The Court’s jurisdiction is referral and its functions are to arbitrate labour disputes referred to it under the Act; adjudicating questions of law arising from references to it by any other law; and dispose of the labour disputes without undue delay.

It’s jurisdiction ambit are labour disputes referred to it by a party to a dispute where a labour officer has failed to dispose of the dispute within 08 weeks under the court’s regulations as requested under the Act , or disputes referred by a labour officer at the request of the party or on the officer’s own volition when is unable to resolve the dispute ; or by the responsible Minister on notice of an intended withdrawal of labour within 05 days.

Appeals can also be filed against labour officers’ decisions under the Employment Act.

Labour Disputes (Arbitration and Settlement) Act 2006, SI 35, 2006, Labour Disputes (Arbitration and Settlement) Act, 2006 Cap 224, Laws of Uganda, s.5.

After being in abeyance for over seven years, the court finally became operational in the latter half of 2014. This new court is a successor to the Industrial Court that was first established in 1964 under the legal regime created by the Trade Disputes (Arbitration and Settlement) Act.

The new Industrial Court, however, is a novel entity: designed to acknowledge and address the new and different challenges presented by a Uganda that, since the mid-sixties, has fundamentally transformed.

Changes in the economic landscape, both nationally and regionally, call for increased efficiency and enhanced quality in Government service delivery.

And efficiency and quality are attained partly through cost-cutting and specialization.

Why the court exists

To Provide a platform for people to equitably express their labour grievances as to achieve equal opportunity in employment in Uganda

More information on the Industrial Court can be found on this link Industrial Court