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{
"id": 319791,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/319791/?format=api",
"text_counter": 165,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Prof. Muigai",
"speaker_title": "The Attorney General",
"speaker": {
"id": 408,
"legal_name": "Githu Muigai",
"slug": "githu-muigai"
},
"content": " Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to reply as follows: (i) Under the current Constitution, the Attorney-General combines the following functions: Principal Legal Adviser to the Government, counsel to the Government in any court or tribunal locally or internationally and any other function that may be assigned to him by Parliament or His Excellency the President. In addition, the Attorney-General is responsible for promoting, protecting, upholding and defending the public interest. In order to achieve these goals, the Attorney-General’s Office is structured in six departments. They are the Department of Civil Litigation, Department of Registrar General, Department of the Administrator General who is the public trustee, Department of Treaties and Agreements, Advocates Complaints Commission and Department of Legislative Drafting. Recently, in order to improve efficiency, we have created sub-departments of the Department of Civil Litigation as follows: Sub-department of Constitution and Human Rights, Judicial Review and Public Procurement, Land and Environment, Commercial Law and Arbitration and General Civil Laws and Claims. We hope that these divisions will improve our service delivery to Government Ministries, departments and parastatals. (ii) With regard to the payment of court awards, the procedure is as follows: Once a judgement is entered against the Government, the counsel handling the matter prepares a brief which contains the basis of the claimant’s claim and the steps of action to be taken by the Office of the Attorney-General. Next, there is a certified copy of the judgment, a certificate of costs and costs against the Government in the matter. These documents are provided by the successful litigant and the payment process then commences. Next, a recommendation is made to the relevant Ministry to honour the judgment in terms of the court order. Further, the client Ministry, upon receipt of these documents, authorizes or seeks authority from the Treasury. Finally, the Treasury transmits funds to the Office of the Attorney-General and then the payment process is commenced. It is the private litigant’s prerogative either to represent himself or to engage the services of an advocate. In litigation against the Government where a successful litigant has consistently been represented by an advocate, unless otherwise provided by the litigant, the Office of the Attorney-General must pay the funds directly to the advocate on record. It, therefore, falls upon a successful litigant to inform the Office of the Attorney- General how he prefers his funds to be processed. The Advocates’ Complaints Commission (ACC) is instrumental in disciplining errant and dishonest advocates and where a successful litigant has difficulty in obtaining funds due to him through the actions of his advocate, the matter should be reported to the Commission. As hon. Members will recall, when we enacted the Statutes Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act two months ago, we strengthened the capacity of the ACC and we made it into an Advocates Disciplinary Tribunal (ADT). We hope that these developments will further bring some discipline within the ranks of the learned members of this profession."
}