Commissioner tips on how to end court case backlogs

By John Muthoni

Majority of Kenyans do not know how to get a fair hearing with or without a lawyer in court, it has been revealed.

According to Kenya Law Reforms Commissioner Roselyn Aburilli, the backlog of cases in the Judiciary would reduce significantly if people knew that they could represent themselves.

Justice Aburilli revealed that many litigations had stalled due to lack of funds to pay lawyers.

“There are very few lawyers who are willing to litigate cases on a pro bono basis. If one has a case that is justifiable and does not have money to pay a lawyer, he can represent himself if he knows his rights,” said Aburilli.

She added that State prosecutors are very few in Kenya and cannot effectively deal with the large number of cases that are filed in court daily.

Speaking during a legal aid conference, Aburilli said the only way to resolve the cases crisis was to educate citizens on how the justice system runs and how to resolve issues without necessarily going to court.

She said the administrative system of government, beginning with village elders and other social systems such  as religious leadership, was handy in arbitrating disputes, and only legal matters that needed constitutional interpretation and matters of grave human rights violations should be resolved by the courts.