{"id":706532,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/706532/?format=json","text_counter":189,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Hon. Ng’ongo","speaker_title":"","speaker":{"id":110,"legal_name":"John Mbadi Ng'ong'o","slug":"john-mbadi"},"content":"However, there have been grey areas. We must admit that it has not been very clear to us what constitutes contempt of court. I am happy today that if this Bill is passed into law, it will come out clearly to explain exactly what it is meant by contempt of court. I see that the Bill has defined what is civil and criminal contempt. More fundamentally and in line with the provisions of Articles 33, 34 and 35 of the Constitution on freedoms of expression and other freedoms that are enjoyed by the people of Kenya which include freedom of the media and access to information, there is a lacuna in the sense that it was not very clear to us where contempt of court starts and where freedom of expression, freedom of the media and other freedoms that we enjoy as a people, end. So, clearly, this Bill attempts to define defence to contempt of court so that courts would not insist that one is in contempt of court even when they have just fulfilled their civic duty as citizens who are protected by the Bill of Rights and the freedom of expression."}