Chief Justice Martha Koome has announced that the judiciary will reshuffle all judges to ensure they serve in stations that handle high public interest matters.
In a statement on Wednesday, February 21 after consultation with the heads of superior courts of Kenya, CJ Koome said the regular rotation will ensure judicial decisions are not personalized.
“To promote the general wellness of Judges and to ensure that judicial decisions are not personalized, the Hon. Chief Justice will endeavour to ensure regular rotation of Judges and ensure all Judges are accorded an opportunity of serving in stations and divisions that handle high numbers of public interest matters,” said Koome.
At the same time, the Chief Justice said judges in superior courts will enforce the ‘no adjournment’ policy to ensure efficiency and reduce delays in the conclusion of cases.
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“Litigants and stakeholders in the justice sector are urged to embrace the ‘no adjournment’ policy as adjournments will be granted only in the most exceptional circumstances,” said CJ Koome.
Further, she mentioned that the Principal Judge of the High Court in consultation with the Judges of the High Court distributed time-sensitive matters in the Constitutional and Human Rights and Commercial Divisions to all High Court Judges using the ‘Mahakama Popote’ model to fast-track the cases.
“As an exception to the first-in-first-out practice at the Court of Appeal, the Court of Appeal will endeavor to fast-track the hearing and determination of appeals relating to time-sensitive matters,” CJ Koome added.
