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{
    "id": 588739,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/588739/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 190,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Okoth",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 12482,
        "legal_name": "Kenneth Odhiambo Okoth",
        "slug": "kenneth-odhiambo-okoth"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I rise to support this Bill. The first thing is that I am very proud to be a Member of this House, because you can see the set of Bills and issues we are dealing with in this period, from the Magistrates’ Courts Bill, which we have disposed of, to the Small Claims Court Bill that is coming up, to this High Court Organisation and Administration Bill. They fall within a bracket of issues that are in our Constitution: fair administration of and access to justice. In this month as we discuss these issues, the 70th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has just been concluded in New York. Members of the community of nations agreed on a new set of development goals, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), also known as the global goals. One of them is really important and unique in a way. The SDGs are supposed to help us talk about things like equality, equity and governance across the world. It is in this context that Kenya is one of the leading countries that signed on and steered the arguments, arrangement and negotiations that led to the development and adoption of the SDGs. Goals numbers 16 and 17 are key goals that talk about access to justice as a key pillar of the SDGs. There is no development without justice, so to speak. So, I am proud that this august Assembly is doing its part in making sure that the vision and dream in our Constitution is brought to life through a set of laws that will make sure that we have a well-functioning and well-organised Judiciary, where our people can access justice. Some of the key gains touch on both the Magistrates’ Courts Bill and the High Court Organisation and Administration Bill we are discussing right now. This Bill has provision for the establishment of divisions to make sure there is specialisation and increase of efficiency in the administration of justice. In places like Mombasa, you might need an admiralty court. In other places, you may need special family divisions to specialise and speed up determination of cases. A few months ago we passed the Protection Against Domestic Violence Bill. That law has great potential. Once we think about the proper establishment of family and children divisions of the High Court, where we can resolve many of the issues being addressed under the Protection Against Domestic Violence Bill, we can hope for a situation where those divisions will be efficient. The divisions can give priority to resolving family matters that put family members in grave situations. Often, it is about children and women, but sometimes even men are affected. So, we are making some gains here. This same Parliament last year passed the Matrimonial Property Bill and the Marriage Bill. The theory and letter of the law and the spirit and practical realisation of the benefits of the law in impacting the lives of our people will be realised through well-organised court systems. I want to emphasise in particular issues such as succession and inheritance cases where quick settlement of cases at local Magistrates’ Courts or High Court stations that are decentralised to each of the counties can make it easy to lodge an appeal, and also get a case resolved quickly instead of waiting and trying to reach a court that is far away. So, we are making good steps there. In cases of customary marriages, and this has been tackled in a ground-breaking way in the Magistrates’ Courts Bill, people who enter into customary marriages and have conflict within those customary marriages will not be at the whims of chiefs and elders. They can appear in front of judicial officers who must keep records and follow certain procedures to dispense to them justice and resolve their issues even if there are issues of land held under customary marriage. That is very important and we are making progress. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}