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{
    "id": 590271,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/590271/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 210,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Ms.) Tuya",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 926,
        "legal_name": "Roselinda Soipan Tuya",
        "slug": "roselinda-soipan-tuya"
    },
    "content": "Court Bill). I say this because the Bill is all about making justice accessible, bringing it closer to the people and making it available. Our justice system has been marred with a lot of challenges for the common Kenyan since the establishment of this Republic. For one, our customary justice systems which are the indigenous processes of dealing with disputes have been eroded over the years and replaced with a justice system which in many instances is very abstracted in nature. Abstracted in the sense that it does not address the realities of our varied cultures in this country and does not address the realities of the common Kenyan. The court processes are very complex, intimidating and very foreign to most Kenyans. What this Bill seeks to do is to bring a hybrid system where we can bring a linkages between our indigenous justice systems and the legal or formal justice system as it were. The Bill is also founded on very strong principles of the constitution of ensuring fairness in access to justice for Kenyans and the Constitution also addresses the need to embrace alternative dispute resolutions in dealing with matters which may fall under different regimes of law including customary law. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, the Bill is timely in the sense that even in the application of that alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, we know that in as much as we may want to embrace our indigenous forms of justice, most of these practices especially the customary law practices may not always be fair, particularly to certain groups of marginalized people within our society. An example is women. With this law forming that linkage between the formal and the informal justice system, we are going to make sure that even those processes of customary access to justice, are going to be accountable, fair, and founded on the core principles of the Constitution of non-discrimination and fairness for all people. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, this Bill, which I am happy to note that we are yet to hear anybody who is opposed to it, will come a long way in restoring confidence in our justice system for Kenyans. It will ensure that access to justice is not just a preserve of a few people who can afford to hire a lawyer to stand in for them as our society is getting very litigious, adversarial and very intimidating. Clause 11(2) provides for the sub-county as a minimum decentralised level for the Small Claims Court which means that as we advance, in my own interpretation, we will have the opportunity to decentralise these courts further to make sure they go down to the people. Clause 18 makes a provision to the effect that an order that is made under an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) shall be binding to the court and coupled with the requirement for record keeping under the Small Claims Court. This will go a long way in streamlining and making sure that fairness is achieved even as we go to opening up justice to be realistic, available, and accessible to Kenyans. An appeal to the High Court on points of law is another provision of this Bill, which creates that linkage in the event that a litigant is not satisfied with a decision of a Small Claims Court; they still have an opportunity on a point of law. I think this is the opportunity to make sure any injustices which may be occasioned under the ADR mechanisms will be sufficiently addressed. As I support the Bill, I would like to take issue with Clause 20 which uses some strong language in barring legal practitioners from appearing before the Small Claims Courts. I think this is highly misguided. I am an advocate of the High Court of Kenya, of 11 years standing, and I must say I have never been inspired to open an office in Nairobi because I feel like the people I ought to represent cannot reach me in Nairobi, as they cannot afford to come to Nairobi. I have 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."
}