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{
    "id": 416024,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/416024/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 340,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. H.K. Njuguna",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1508,
        "legal_name": "Humphrey Kimani Njuguna",
        "slug": "humphrey-kimani-njuguna"
    },
    "content": "the public to participate in the legal profession is another milestone in this Bill. This is because we are saying that we are going to have honorary members – those who have not schooled in the legal profession can now come in through vetting or application and become honorary members. This is another way of demystifying the profession such that the members of the public can come in and interrogate the profession and be part and parcel honorary members. This is a milestone and other professions need to borrow from whatever is happening now in the legal profession. The Bill has borrowed heavily from the best practices now, either globally or regionally because there is an attempt to integrate the practice in East Africa and the Commonwealth. Towards that end again we need to applaud this Bill. However, of course, we accept that there are challenges just like hon. Members here have noted. We need to accept that as members of the legal profession. The biggest challenge had been the delivery of justice where a case takes one year, two years and some even ten years. As some hon. Members have said here when justice is delayed, that is justice denied. We hope that concern will be taken into account. When we went through the legal profession, some of us did not have to go through the School of Law. However, now the training has become so cumbersome. After university you go to the Kenya School of Law which has now become very expensive where an ordinary Kenya is not able to go through this training. It is now costing almost Kshs200, 000. This is more expensive than what is paid in our public universities. After going through the public university, the students from poor families are not able to go to the Kenya School of Law. Perhaps, that is a concern that we need to address. Also, students coming from the Commonwealth countries, when they come back here they have to go through other courses. That is causing a lot of disharmony. We need to have a practice. If you are talking about Commonwealth then perhaps it should be acceptable that students coming from law school in Commonwealth countries need not go through trauma, the way they are being traumatized now. Of course, the concern has been raised by hon. Chepkonga, the Chairman of the Departmental Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs that at times we get very disturbed when the Law Society of Kenya makes certain comments about parliamentarians, about our salaries and so on. If you are a lawyer, you have gone through the briefs and you know what is happening why are you misleading Kenyans? They should, even as we pass this Bill, accept that there are challenges and we hope they are going to address some of these challenges. Thank you, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I support this Bill."
}