Well-resourced Judiciary will deliver justice

The launch of the State of Judiciary and Administration of Justice (SOJAR) Annual Report FY 2021/22 in the presence of leaders from all arms of government speaks to the shared responsibility towards realisation of the constitutional right of access to justice as enshrined in Article 48 of our Constitution.

The triple commitment by President William Ruto to address financial constraints hampering optimal service delivery by the Judiciary, through increased budgetary allocation; addressing human resource constraints through appointment of more judges; and, curing the infrastructure deficit through support to the our digitisation agenda, establishing 100 Small Claims Courts, Magistrates courts in all constituencies, and High Courts in all counties, indicate that the Executive intends to partner with the Judiciary to realise an efficient and accessible justice system.

During the last Financial Year, 404,312 cases were filed in the Judiciary, of which 257,205 were criminal cases and 147,107 civil cases. 42 per cent of these cases are in five counties (Nairobi, Nakuru, Mombasa, Kiambu and Machakos). The courts recorded a case clearance rate of 94 per cent with 381,317 cases resolved comprising 231,415 criminal cases and 149,902 civil cases. At the end of the year, 678,697 cases were pending. To expand the doorways of justice, 11 new Environment and Land Courts and six new High Court stations were established.

Another transformative intervention was establishment of 11 Small Claims Courts. The court is revolutionary and has enabled resolution of claims below Sh1 million within 60 days in a process marked by informal and less cumbersome court processes. During the period; this court resolved 9,315 cases, releasing Sh1.431 billion into the economy. To expedite resolution of sexual and gender-based cases, we operationalised a Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) court at Shanzu. We hope to roll out the SGBV courts throughout the country.

At the end of reporting period, the employee complement was at 66 per cent (6,182), an increase by 10 per cent from previous year of 56 per cent. Judges were at 49 per cent, Magistrates and Kadhis at 49 per cent, Law Clerks and Legal Researchers at 27 per cent and Judicial Staff 66 per cent. For optimal function, the overall Judiciary establishment requirement is 9,417 out of which 348 are Judges, 1,200 Judicial Officers, 650 Law Clerks and Legal Researchers while 7,219 are Judicial Staff. Another key achievement was operationalisation of the Judiciary Fund. The Judiciary allocation for the FY 2021/22 was Sh18.122 billion, of which Sh15.968 billion was for recurrent expenses and Sh2,154 billion for development vote. This is extremely low as it represents just 0.6 per cent in proportionality for allocations of the national budget and well below the international best practice of allocating to Judiciary Funds, proportionate to 3 per cent of the national budget.

The Chief Justice's speech at the launch of the State of the Judiciary and Administration of Justice Annual Report FY 2021/22.