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26 1946

INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS ACT, 1946

PART II.

The Labour Court.

Establishment of the Labour Court.

10. —(1) There shall be a body, to be known as the Labour Court, to fulfil the functions assigned to it by this Act.

(2) The Court shall consist of a chairman (in this Act referred to as the chairman) and four ordinary members (in this Act referred to as the ordinary members) of whom two shall be workers' members and two shall be employers' members.

(3) The chairman shall be appointed by the Minister and shall hold office on such terms as shall be fixed by the Minister when appointing him.

(4) The Minister shall, in respect of each workers' member, designate an organisation representative of trade unions of workers to nominate a person for appointment, and, in respect of each employers' member, designate a trade union of employers to nominate a person for appointment and the Minister shall appoint the person so nominated.

(5) If, when a particular appointment of workers' members (or, in the event of a casual vacancy, a workers' member) is to be made—

(a) more than one organisation representative of trade unions of workers is in being, and

(b) the Minister is of opinion that it is undesirable that the appointment should be made under subsection (4) of this section,

he may, by regulations, declare that the appointment, instead of being made under the said subsection (4), shall be made under this subsection, and thereupon the following provisions shall have effect—

(i) the Minister shall invite trade unions of workers and organisations representative of trade unions of workers to nominate persons for appointment, and

(ii) he shall make the appointment from amongst the persons so nominated.

(6) The Civil Service Regulation Acts, 1924 and 1926, shall not apply to the office of chairman or ordinary member of the Court.

(7) An ordinary member shall, unless he dies, resigns or is removed, hold office—

(a) if appointed under subsection (4) of this section, for such period, not exceeding five years, as shall be fixed by the Minister when appointing him,

(b) if appointed under subsection (5) of this section, for five years or, if the regulations, by virtue of which he was appointed, are sooner revoked or annulled, until such revocation or annulment.

(8) An ordinary member may be removed from office by the Minister for stated reasons but, if the organisation by which he was nominated is in being, only with the consent of that organisation.

(9) The chairman and the ordinary members shall be paid such remuneration and allowances as the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, determines.

(10) The Chairman shall devote the whole of his time to the work of the Court.

(11) An ordinary member shall not hold the office of trustee, treasurer, secretary or any other office in, or be a member of any committee of, a trade union, or hold any office or employment which would prevent him from being at all times available for the work of the Court.

(12) A person shall not be appointed to be chairman or a member of the court unless he is ordinarily resident in the State.

Divisions of the Court.

11. —Whenever the chairman is of opinion that for the speedy dispatch of the business of the Court it is expedient that the Court should act by divisions, he may direct accordingly, and, until he revokes his direction—

(a) the Court shall be grouped into—

(i) a first division, consisting of the chairman (who shall be chairman of the division) and a workers', member and an employers' member selected by him, and

(ii) a second division, consisting of the deputy chairman (who shall be chairman of the division), the other workers' member and the other employers' member;

(b) the chairman shall assign to each division the business to be transacted by it;

(c) for the purpose of the business so assigned to it, each division shall have all the powers of the Court and the chairman of the division shall have all the powers of the chairman and references in this Act to the Court and the chairman shall be construed as including references to a division and the chairman of a division, respectively.

12. —(1) The Minister shall appoint a deputy for the chairman who shall hold office on such terms as shall be fixed by the Minister when appointing him.

(2) The deputy chairman shall, in the absence of the chairman, act in his place and references in this Act to the chairman shall be construed as including references to the deputy chairman so acting.

(3) No person shall be appointed to be deputy chairman unless he is ordinarily resident in the State.

(4) The deputy chairman may be paid such fees as the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, determines.

Registrar and officers and servants of the Court.

13. —(1) (a) The Minister shall appoint to be registrar of the Court a practising barrister or practising solicitor of not less than ten years' standing.

(b) For the purposes of paragraph (a) of this subsection, service in a situation in the Civil Service, for appointment to which only barristers and solicitors were eligible, shall be treated as practice as a barrister or solicitor.

(2) The Minister, after consultation with the Court and with the consent of the Minister for Finance, may appoint such officers and servants of the Court as he thinks necessary to assist the Court in the performance of its functions.

(3) The registrar, officers and servants of the Court shall hold office on such terms and receive such remuneration as the Minister for Finance determines.

Technical assessors.

14. —(1) The Court may appoint technical assessors to assist it on any matter relating to proceedings before the Court.

(2) Technical assessors shall be paid such fees as the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, determines.

Places for sittings of the Court and lodgment of documents.

15. —(1) The headquarters of the Court shall be at Dublin, but sittings of the Court may be held elsewhere in the State.

(2) The Court may designate suitable places at which documents for the Court may be lodged.

Conciliation officers.

16. —The Court may appoint officers of the Court to act as Conciliation Officers.

Finality of decisions of the Court.

17. —No appeal shall lie from the decision of the Court on any matter within its jurisdiction to a court of law.

Seal of the Court.

18. —(1) The Court shall have an official seal which shall be judicially noticed.

(2) The seal of the Court shall, when affixed to any document, be authenticated by the signature of the chairman or the registrar of the Court or of a person authorised by the Court to authenticate it.

(3) Every document purporting to express an order, award or other decision of the Court and to be sealed with the seal of the Court authenticated in accordance with this section shall, unless the contrary is proved, be deemed to have been duly and lawfully so sealed and shall, unless as aforesaid, be received in evidence as such order, award or decision without further proof and, in particular, without proof of any signature affixed to such document for the purpose of such authentication and without proof of the office or authority of the person whose signature such signature purports to be.

Proof of orders of the Court.

19. —(1) Section 4 of the Documentary Evidence Act, 1925 (No. 24 of 1925), shall apply to every order of the Court.

(2) Subsection (1) of section 6 of the Documentary Evidence Act, 1925 , is hereby amended by adding to the official documents mentioned in that subsection orders of the Court, and the said section 6 shall have effect accordingly.

Procedure of the Court.

20. —(1) Subject to section 11 of this Act and subsection (2) of this section, the quorum for a meeting or sitting of the Court shall be five.

(2) The chairman may direct that, for the consideration of a particular matter, the Court shall consist of the chairman and two ordinary members selected by him, namely, a workers' member and an employers' member, and, if the chairman so directs, no other member shall act as a member of the Court in respect of that matter.

(3) Where—

(a) any question arises under this Act at a meeting or sitting of the Court, and

(b) the members of the Court are unable to agree upon the determination of the question,

the following provisions shall have effect—

(i) if the majority of the ordinary members agree upon the determination of the question, the question shall be determined accordingly,

(ii) if a majority of the ordinary members do not agree, but a majority of all the members agree, the question shall be determined, accordingly,

(iii) otherwise, the question shall be determined in accordance with the opinion of the chairman.

(4) The decision of the Court shall be pronounced by the chairman or such other member as the chairman shall authorise for the purpose, and no other opinion, whether assenting or dissenting, shall be pronounced nor shall the existence of any such other opinion be disclosed.

(5) Subject to this section, the Court may make rules for the regulation of its proceedings.

(6) Rules under this section may provide for the cases in which persons may appear before the Court by counsel or solicitor and, except as so provided, no person shall be entitled to appear by counsel or solicitor before the Court.

(7) The Court may hold any sitting or part of a sitting in private.

Power of Court to summon witnesses, etc.

21. —(1) The Court may for the purposes of any proceedings before it under this Act do all or any of the following things—

(a) summon witnesses to attend before it,

(b) examine on oath (which a member or the registrar of the Court is hereby authorised to administer) the witnesses attending before it,

(c) require any such witness to produce to the Court any document in his power or control.

(2) A witness before the Court shall be entitled to the same immunities and privileges as if he were a witness before the High Court.

(3) If any person—

(a) on being duly summoned as a witness before the Court makes default in attending, or

(b) being in attendance as a witness refuses to take an oath legally required by the Court to be taken, or to produce any document in his power or control legally required by the Court to be produced by him, or to answer any question to which the Court may legally require an answer,

he shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding ten pounds.

(4) Where a witness attends before the Court in pursuance of a summons under this section, the Minister may, if he thinks fit, pay to him such sum in respect of expenses incurred by him in connection with his attendance as the Minister, with the sanction of the Minister for Finance, determines.

Prohibition on disclosure of information.

22. —The Court shall not include in any report any information obtained by it in the course of any proceedings before it under this Act as to any trade union or as to the business carried on by any person which is not available otherwise than through evidence given at the proceedings, without the consent of the trade union or persons concerned, nor shall any member of the Court or the registrar or any officer or servant of the Court or any person concerned in the proceedings, without such consent, disclose any such information.

Reports, etc., by Court.

23. —(1) The Court shall, as soon as may be after the expiration of each year, make to the Government a general report (in this section referred to as an annual report) of its proceedings under this Act during that year.

(2) The Court shall include in each annual report any observations it may wish to make on the trend of wages rates.

(3) An annual report shall contain particulars, of each registered joint industrial council together with the name of the secretary of the council and the address of its principal office.

(4) A copy of each annual report shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas.

(5) The Court shall furnish to the Minister a copy of each order, recommendation and award made by the Court under this Act as soon as may be after it is made.

Duty of Court to consider certain matters with regard to employment conditions referred to it by the Minister.

24. —The Court shall consider any matter referred to it by the Minister concerning the employment conditions prevailing as regards the workers of any class and their employers and shall furnish a report thereon to the Minister together with such recommendations (if any) as it thinks proper, and the Minister shall consider any report and recommendation so made.