Legal diagnosis of the national industrial court of Nigeria rules, 2017 as a catalyst of egalitarian labour adjudication

Abstract

The National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) is a specialized court dealing with labor and; its functionality is contingent its procedural Rules. To ensure optimal functioning of the Court, its President, according to the powers conferred on him, made the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (Civil Procedure) Rules, 2017. The question are: in comparison to the erstwhile 2007 Rules what improvement (s) has these Rules introduced into the functionality of the Court and its shortcomings? This article adopts doctrinal methodology in addressing these issues. The paper through desk-based analytical methodology examines, status, and functionality of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria under the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (Third Alteration) Act 2010. The paper found that the NICN Rules, 2017, is a catalyst for expeditious, judicious, and egalitarian labor adjudication towards unearthing the benefits of the enhanced status of the Court under the Third 1999 Constitution (Third Alteration) Act 2010. It highlights the innovative provisions of the Rules. It identifies areas for improvement and recommends how to achieve the improvements.