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{
    "id": 28171,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/28171/?format=api",
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    "content": "relevant Committee of Parliament led by my friend, hon. Mutava Musyimi, has looked at this Bill. I commend them for going through it thoroughly in a very short time. I have looked at the amendments they propose to make to this Bill. I have looked at them and I have no problem. I will be giving a copy of those proposed amendments to my colleague, hon. Michuki. I wanted to make that point, at the outset, and say that they will make the Bill even better. This is not a matter that will cause any controversy. Part II on page 1204 talks about the establishment and constitution of the court. The court is established as the Environment and Land Court and shall be a superior court of record with the status of the High Court. This is a repetition of what is in the Constitution. Clause 5 is about the composition of the court, very much similar to the Employment and Labour Relations Court which will consist of a principal judge. That judge will be elected in accordance with Article 165(2) of the Constitution. There are provisions on how judges in the various superior courts can elect a principal judge. Those provisions are applicable to that court. The qualifications of judges are found in Article 7. They are the same qualifications. There may be additional qualifications there, but they are neither here nor there because we cannot go against what is written in the Constitution. Every public and State officer is required to meet the requirements of Chapter 6 of the Constitution. That is stated in Clause 7. This is in addition to the qualifications required for every judge. The tenure of office of a judge of the court, you can see that in Clause 8. There is a lot of reference to the Constitution. Clauses 9, 10 and 11 deal with the registrar of court and that is normal for every superior court. You will find again, when you look at the Judicial Service Commission Act and the other Bills that deal with the superior court, the functions are the same. The more important part which I think is for you to look at critically and give us your comments is Part III which deals with jurisdiction of the court. Clause 13(1) says:- “The Court shall have original and appellate jurisdiction to hear and determine all disputes in accordance with Article 162(2)(b) of the Constitution.” With the provisions of this Act or any other written law relating to environment and land again, emphasis is that the jurisdiction falls from the Constitution. However, it also has an appellate jurisdiction because, as you will agree with me, there are various tribunals, even as we speak, dealing with issues of environment. The magistrates court also deal with issues of land. Therefore, courts which would be subject to these provisions on appellate basis or otherwise would be the Environment and Land Court. Those are all set out in that Article. Clause 13(2) states: “In exercise of its jurisdiction under Article 162(2)(b) of the Constitution, the Court shall have power to hear and determine disputes relating to environment and land, including disputes”. Those are spelt out - environmental planning and protection, trade, climate issues, land use planning et cetera . I think the most important thing to say is that it is only in circumstances where the environment and the use of title to land is involved. That is the basic jurisdiction as set out in the Constitution. The number of judges should be such that we have a judge in every county. As you know, nearly 60 per cent of cases before our courts are land cases. So, it is important that we have a land court in every county. Not just with one judge, but several Judges to deal with land issues in every county. This is what we want to do."
}