By Tajeu Shadrack Nkapapa
In a ceremony presided by the president, 20 High Court Judges were sworn in on 14th May.
These judges will initiate a Rapid Results Initiative (RRI) across seven divisions of the High Court at Milimani Law Courts, to resolve 12,000 cases within six months.
The Judiciary has decided to shift its focus to courts within the wider Nairobi Metropolitan Area in the next phase of RRI.
This targeted area is responsible for 30 percent of the national case backlog. The Judiciary aims to resolve an additional 9,417 cases in this region.
As of March 30, 2024, the High Court was faced with a total of 68,121 pending cases, resulting in an average caseload of 873 cases per Judge.
However, with the increased efforts to resolve cases, the Judiciary is also addressing prison congestion by deploying judges to oversee Community Service Orders to reduce the population of inmates.
As of 13th May, Kenyan prisons were holding 62,639 inmates, which is significantly exceeding their capacity of 30,000.
Through a Rapid Results Initiative for Community Service Orders, the judiciary aims to review sentences for those convicted of minor offences.
This will help align the inmate population capacity at the facilities.
“We are committed to ensuring that each of our country’s 47 Counties has access to a High Court. Currently, Wajir County lacks a High Court and we intend to establish a sub-registry immediately and arrange periodic visits by a judge,” assured the Chief Justice.
Furthermore, the CJ added that the permanent High Court judges will be reinstated in Lodwar and Kapenguria where resident judges were previously withdrawn due to a shortage of judges.
The CJ also stated that to ensure the prompt handling of time-sensitive public interest matters, the Judiciary has embarked on reviewing the Constitutional and Human Rights Procedure Rules and Judicial Review Procedure Rules.