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{
    "id": 974090,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/974090/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 638,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Baringo North, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. William Cheptumo",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 50,
        "legal_name": "William Cheptumo Kipkiror",
        "slug": "william-kipkiror"
    },
    "content": "litigants file cases, but do not pursue them. What the Judiciary has done is to dismiss some of the cases to reduce the backlog and proceed with cases where parties in the suits are ready and willing to proceed. Another observation is that whereas mobile courts were necessary in reduction of the backlog of cases, inadequate funding of other Government agencies like the Office of the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) hampered their operations thereby making achievements of desired results difficult. The Judiciary has embraced alternative dispute resolution mechanisms and relies on out of court settlement. That has helped in reducing the backlog of cases. Many observations were made. Let me now look at the recommendations that we made in this area. The Judiciary should propose legislation for enactment by the House providing for statutory timelines within which cases should be heard and determined by the courts. As a Committee, we have already engaged the Judiciary and we should come up with this law, so that we have specific timelines. That will help in reducing the backlog of cases. The National Assembly and the National Treasury should allocate adequate resources to the Judiciary to employ more judges and magistrates for expeditious determination of cases before courts. If we have this number of cases and we do not have enough judges or magistrates, definitely, even the policy we will put in place will still be frustrated. Therefore, it is important for this House, under our constitutional responsibility, to allocate sufficient resources to the Judiciary. The Judiciary should increase the jurisdiction of magistrates to deal with matters that are currently a preserve of the High Court, which will significantly reduce the backlog of cases in the High Court. Finally, the Judiciary should, as a matter of urgency, submit to the National Assembly rules for approval to operationalise the Small Claims Court Act of 2016. Those are the recommendations that we have made with regard to access to justice being a very important area of this Report. The resources we have been allocating to the Judiciary have not been enough. Allow me to demonstrate to the House why we need to move with speed. The other area I would like to look at is funding for the Judiciary. It continues to suffer serious underfunding. In five successive financial years, the Judiciary has been underfunded. Let me mention a few of them."
}