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{
    "id": 590232,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/590232/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 171,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Wetangula",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 3036,
        "legal_name": "Timothy Wanyonyi Wetangula",
        "slug": "timothy-wanyonyi-wetangula"
    },
    "content": "Clause 21 talks about language. What captures my imagination is the use of indigenous language, braille and Kenyan sign language. This makes it accessible to people with disability. Sometimes, people with disability go to court and they do not find interpreters or people who understand the Kenyan sign language. Since this provision is made available to them, it means that this will be accessible to the people who come to consume the court services. I wish to look at Clause 18 about dispute resolution mechanisms. It is also provided that those small claims courts can explore this mechanism instead of going through the whole court process. They can even adopt this and once this is agreed, then the parties can record consent in court and that will lead to a speedy disposal of the matter. This is going to lift some of the backlog in the senior courts. Clause 15 talks about geographical jurisdiction whereby the matters are heard within the geographical areas. It limits the cases to the geographical area where the dispute arose and where the parties reside. This is a beautiful draft and it captures the imagination of Kenyans. It will make justice accessible to all. Finally, the jurisdiction of the courts has been set at Kshs100,000, and the Chief Justice has a leeway to enhance this. So, it is not an absolute ceiling. He could still give the adjudicator of the court a higher limit of jurisdiction. The memorandum talks about the Bill giving effect to Articles 48 and 169 of the Constitution. This is important because we are trying to ensure that all matters given in the Constitution are being legislated. I must also congratulate the Chief Justice for coming up with these kinds of ideas. Previously, we used to have small District Magistrates Courts and some of those courts used to deal with customary, land and other local issues that can be quickly dealt with at the local level with minimal cost. The Small Claims Courts will go a long way to give our people access to justice and also make them feel that the courts are not made for the rich. They are accessible to all Kenyans, including the poorest person down in the village. I support this Bill."
}