Untitled - Africa Centre for Open Governance

More documents

Recommendations

Info

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
2.2. Vetting The new order brought in the vetting of public officials as a prerequisite for persons aspiring to hold public office. Candidates for high public offices now have to produce clearance certificates from the heads of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), the EACC, the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB), the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), and the Chief Executive Officers of their professional organizations. The constitution provides specifically that judges and magistrates should be subjected to a vetting procedure to establish their suitability to continue serving in the Judiciary. 8 Consequently, Parliament enacted the Vetting of Judges and Magistrates Act to provide the legal framework under which the vetting process would be conducted. The Act establishes an independent board, the Vetting of Judges and Magistrates Board, 9 to “inquire into and determine the suitability of serving judges and magistrates to continue serving in the Judiciary”. 10 Among the issues that the board must consider are: • pending or concluded criminal cases before a court of law against the concerned judge or magistrate; • recommendations for prosecution by the Attorney-General or Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC) 11 (sic); • the track record of the concerned judge or magistrate including prior judicial pronouncements, competence and diligence. Pending complaints that are to be considered are those from any person or body including, but not limited to, the Law Society of Kenya (LSK), EACC, Disciplinary Committee, Advocates Complaints Commission, Attorney General, Public Complaints Standing Committee and Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, National Security Intelligence Service (NSIS), the Police and the Judicial Service Commission (JSC). The vetting commenced in earnest during the year and received live media coverage and intense public interest. The highlight of the vetting process was the appointment of Dr. Willy Mutunga, a renowned reformist and human rights defender, 12 as the Chief Justice of the Republic of Kenya. Naturally, the vetting exercise faced opposition from some quarters. The Kenya Magistrates and Judges Association (KMJA) for example viewed the vetting of judicial officers as “punitive, degrading and discriminative” and intended to condemn all of them as “corrupt and buyable”. 13 8 Article 23 (1) of the Sixth Schedule 9 Section 6 (1) 10 Section 2 11 While the Act states Kenya Anti Corruption Commission, KACC has since been replaced by the Ethics and Anti- Corruption Commission 12 AfriCOG wrote to the Judicial Service Commission commending the process of nominations of both Dr. Willy Mutunga to the position of Chief Justice of Kenya and that of Nancy Baraza to the position of Deputy Chief Justice 13 “Judiciary not happy with vetting plan,” Daily Nation, 14 October 2011 7
Page 3 and 4: Contents Abbreviations and Acronyms
Page 5 and 6: IEBC IIEC IPOA IPI JSC KAA KACC KDF
Page 7 and 8: 1. Introduction The year 2011 saw s
Page 10 and 11: 2.1. Reforms in the Judiciary Kenya
Page 14 and 15: Why Vet The principal purpose of ve
Page 16 and 17: The Acquittal of William Ruto The a
Page 18 and 19: 2.3. Police Reforms The great strid
Page 20 and 21: 2.4. Integrity and Leadership: The
Page 22 and 23: The Registrar of Political Parties,
Page 24 and 25: In December 2011, the AG and the CI
Page 26 and 27: Beyond the letter of intent sent by
Page 28 and 29: Whereas the ICC intervention may in
Page 30 and 31: 3.2. Foreign Arrest Warrants for Co
Page 32 and 33: 4. Setbacks in the War against Corr
Page 34 and 35: A joint communiqué issued at the c
Page 36 and 37: Responding to a question by private
Page 38 and 39: Faced with the accusations by her o
Page 40 and 41: A research study by the Internation
Page 42 and 43: 4.4. Corporate Governance 4.4.1. CM
Page 44 and 45: 5. The Year Ahead Some progress was
Page 48: Acknowledgment AfriCOG thanks team

Untitled - Africa Centre for Open Governance

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?