LEGAL PRINCIPLE: CIVIL PROCEDURE — Fundamental Rights Enforcement — Principal Claim Test — Claim for Wrongful Dismissal Not Within Chapter IV Rights
PRINCIPLE STATEMENT
When the main or principal claim in an application is not the enforcement or securing of a fundamental right, the court has no jurisdiction to entertain it under the Fundamental Rights (Enforcement Procedure) Rules.
RATIO DECIDENDI (SOURCE)
"The combined effect of the second and the third conditions mentioned above is that when the main or principal claim in an application is not the enforcement or securing of a fundamental right, the court has no jurisdiction to entertain it under the Fundamental Rights (Enforcement Procedure) Rules, 1979."
EXPLANATION / SCOPE
The principal claim test is the determinative factor for jurisdiction under the Fundamental Rights Rules. If the main claim is not the enforcement of a fundamental right—e.g., wrongful dismissal, breach of contract, or recovery of property—the court lacks jurisdiction. The applicant cannot add a fundamental rights allegation as an adjunct to an otherwise ordinary civil claim. The principal claim must be the enforcement of the fundamental right itself. The test examines the substance of the claim. The rule prevents litigants from using fundamental rights procedure to litigate ordinary civil disputes. The court will strike out applications where the principal claim falls outside Chapter IV of the Constitution. The procedure is not an alternative to writ of summons.
