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{
    "id": 331598,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/331598/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 316,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Wamalwa",
    "speaker_title": "The Minister for Justice, National Cohesion and Constitutional Affairs",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 148,
        "legal_name": "Eugene Ludovic Wamalwa",
        "slug": "eugene-wamalwa"
    },
    "content": " Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to move that The Vetting of Judges and Magistrates (Amendment) Bill be now read a Second Time. In moving this Bill, I want to tell hon. Members that this is a very short Bill that seeks to bring some amendments to a few sections of the Act that we had already passed in this House. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendment) Bill has brought changes some of which have offered practical challenges to the Board in execution of its duties. It has also raised the issues that touch on possible conflict of interest where we have, in the process of amending, also taken part of the mandate of the Board to the Judicial Service Commission (JSC). This is where we have magistrates who are sitting, representatives of magistrates and judges. In bringing these amendments, the most fundamental one that we are making is to ensure that we take back the powers we had taken from the Board through the amendments carried in the Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendment) Bill so that we remove the JSC from the task of overseeing the vetting of judges and magistrates. We have already seen a conflict between the Board and the Judiciary. The framers of our Constitution, in their wisdom had foreseen this. As a nation, we had already tried to carry out the radical surgery previously which did not succeed. The Judiciary was one of the institutions that were in the eye of the storm during the post election violence because the Kenyan public had completely lost confidence in this institution. Part of what we are trying to achieve through the new Constitution is to ensure that we restore public confidence in the Judiciary by creating a mechanism for the vetting of all those judges and magistrates who were still serving at the time this Constitution came into force. This is why we created this Board that is independent and has the input of experts, for example, international experts like Justice Albie Sachs and the Chief Justice from West Africa. Through these amendments, we are saying; let the Vetting Board be given the full mandate to carry out the vetting. Through this amendment, we want to amend Section 23 of the principal Act by repealing Sub-section 2. In Sub- section 3, we are proposing the deletion of the words “the Judicial Service Commission” so that we remove the JSC from the vetting process and take it back to the Board. The Board has also, in the process of execution of its duties, had various vacancies arising from its composition and part of the objects for this amendment is to ensure that any vacancies that might arise in the Board will not in any way invalidate their work. Owing to the reason of the vacancy, that cannot be taken as a defect in the execution of their work. So, these practical challenges will keep arising and we want to cushion the Board from these challenges as they arise. Through these amendments, under Section 23(1) of the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, the Bill is also providing for the vetting of the Board through a procedure that could be left to the Board to determine from time to time in order to speed up the process. This is the main reason we have this amendment. The other amendments are to"
}