Judiciary suspends all hiring over budget cuts

Chief Justice Martha Koome. [James Wanzala, Standard]

The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) on Wednesday suspended all recruitment including the planned listing of additional Court of Appeal judges over government-wide budget cuts.

In a statement issued by Chief Justice Martha Koome, who chairs the JSC, she attributed the suspension to the government’s decision to cut the Judiciary’s budget by at least 15 per cent.

Justice Koome stated that the Judiciary learned of the looming budget cuts through a circular issued by the National Treasury on June 28.

She noted that the reduced budgetary allocation would force the Judiciary to limit expenditure to only critical and essential services.

“This directive has far-reaching consequences on the operations of the Judiciary and the JSC. Regrettably, this has necessitated the decision by the JSC to suspend all pending recruitments, including the 11 judges of the Court of Appeal which was scheduled to commence today,” said Justice Koome.

The CJ warned that failure to recruit more appellate court judges on account of a limited budget would greatly hamper the Judiciary’s operations.

“Currently, the Court of Appeal has a total of 29 judges serving in only six stations across the country, which translates to nine benches at any given time. The court had a total of 13,331 pending cases as at May 2024,” Koome stated.

The CJ stated that in order to enhance access to justice and reduce the huge cases backlog, the JSC successfully pursued amendments to the Judicature Act, Cap 8 Laws of Kenya thereby increasing the maximum number of Judges in the Court of Appeal from 30 to 70.

Koome said the tragic death of Makadara Magistrate Monica Kivuti also necessitated restructuring and reallocation of the budget to enhance security within the courts.

Justice Koome urged the government to allocate more resources in this fiscal year to address the emerging security and logistical concerns.

“The administration of justice is the cornerstone of democracy and its effective functioning is critical in maintaining public order and respect for the rule of law. In exercising our mandate of advising the National Government on improving efficiency in the administration of justice, the JSC will engage Parliament and the Executive with a view to enhance and secure the Judiciary and the JSC budget,” she said.