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Specific reform initiatives
Noteworthy reforms have taken place at the Judiciary since the appointment of the new CJ.
One significant initiative relates to the structure of the court. Whereas the structure of the court
previously concentrated power on the CJ, and to some extent on the Registrar of the High Court,
the new structure of the court is more decentralized, with the Supreme Court and the Court
of Appeal having their own Presidents and the High Courts having a Principal Judge at their
respective helms. An Ombudsperson was also appointed to receive and respond to complaints
by staff and the public. In just three months, the office received over 700 complaints of various
categories. 5
The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) released a Code of Ethics and Conduct for judicial officers,
and established a standing committee to handle enforcement and disciplinary issues. This action
was particularly important due to the corruption and abuse of office that had taken hold in the
Judiciary.
Further, the Judiciary has sought to leverage technology so as to facilitate its primary mandate:
the administration of justice. By the end of October 2011, the Judiciary had completed digitizing
60 million pages of cases for the High Court across Kenya while the Court of Appeal had digitized
10,000 records covering the years 1999 to 2010. 6 A process of creating an electronic-based system
for monitoring and tracking overdue judgments and rulings with a view to taking remedial action
was also initiated in order to reduce the incentive for corruption through queuing. In addition,
the judiciary embarked on a major computerization programme to ensure that proceedings are
recorded electronically. One of the aims of the computerization programme is to establish the
Supreme Court as a paperless Court. 7
5 Dr. Willy Mutunga, Progress Report on the Transformation of the Judiciary - The First Hundred and Twenty Days,
http://www.kenyalaw.org/kenyaLawBlog/p=227 (October 2011)
6 Ibid
7 Ibid
6