Dr. David Eseli Simiyu

All parliamentary appearances

Entries 801 to 810 of 1379.

• 15 Feb 2011 in National Assembly: On a point of order, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. Is the hon. Member in order to be contributing towards the Vetting of Judges and Magistrates Bill which we have dispensed with? We are now debating the Judicial Service Bill. view
• 15 Feb 2011 in National Assembly: Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I thank you for giving me the opportunity to contribute to this debate. I would like to take this opportunity to also add my voice in support of the Judicial Service Bill. view
• 15 Feb 2011 in National Assembly: Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Judicial Service Commission is not a new thing in Kenya. We have had it before. It is only that it is now being entrenched in the new Constitution. So, it is actually a constitutional Commission. Following the enactment of The Vetting of Judges and Magistrates Bill into law, it is important that we enact this Bill into law as well, so that we can have continuity in our Judicial Service. We need to have a Judicial Service which will be respected and admired by all, so that people can have confidence in it. view
• 15 Feb 2011 in National Assembly: As the previous speaker said, in my understanding, a judge takes time to mature in his or her position and, therefore, a period of three years is not enough. I believe that we want our judges to grow to the best possible levels. Perhaps we can allow the three year period for the initial appointees but subsequent appointees should be allowed to serve for a longer period of time. Talking of the President of the Court of Appeal, he is a very crucial person to the functioning of the Judiciary. We cannot have the occupant of that seat changing after ... view
• 15 Feb 2011 in National Assembly: Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, talking of the Principal Judges, they will also have to be given time to be able to mature in their positions and become what I would call in layman’s language “sages” in their positions. I believe this is a very straightforward thing, because we have had the Judicial Service Commission. What we are doing is that we are passing a law to facilitate the constitution of a new Judicial Service Commission, which is also constitutional. So, it is not anything new, and I do not think it is anything that anyone of us should have ... view
• 15 Feb 2011 in National Assembly: The Bill has only a few minor problems, as exemplified under Clause 10, where it is said that “there may be appointed a Deputy Chief Registrar”. I must admit that I did not do English for a very long time but I understand that the word “may” means “optional”, and this cannot be allowed. We should say “there shall be appointed a Deputy Chief Registrar”. I would want to believe that this was just a typographical error during the printing of this Bill, and that it will be corrected. view
• 15 Feb 2011 in National Assembly: Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, there is also the issue of the National Council on Administration of Justice, which will constitute of several people, including the Commissioner of Police. I would like to point out at this stage that, as per the new Constitution, we are not going to have a Commissioner of Police but rather an Inspector- General of Police. So, these are some of the things which need to be flashed out and corrected in this Bill before we pass it. Otherwise, we might pass it for a Commissioner of Police and yet we do not have that ... view
• 15 Feb 2011 in National Assembly: Hon. Members will also find that, in terms of appointment of members of the proposed National Council on Administration of Justice, some people in this country have been given too much leeway as provided for under Clause 34, of which sub-clause 2, paragraph (k) provides for a representative of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO) involved in the provision of legal aid. These must be NGOs which are involved in the legal field. Again, paragraph (l) of sub-clause 2 of Clause 34 provides for appointment to the Council, a representative of an organisation or association dealing in legal, human rights or governance issues. view
• 15 Feb 2011 in National Assembly: Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the persons referred to under paragraphs (l) and (k) of sub-clause (2) of Clause 34 belong to the same profession. So, these persons are getting an undue advantage of nominating people to the National Council on Administration of Justice. Therefore, this is something which needs to be looked into carefully, so that we do not end up with a particular group of people loading it over the rest of the membership of the Council because they have a slight majority in the Council’s membership. view
• 15 Feb 2011 in National Assembly: Otherwise, we need to pass this Bill expeditiously. I would, again, like to commend the Minister because he keeps on remembering my flagship school, Friends School Kamusinga. He says that one of the things they are going to consider, as they apply the procedures and criteria for evaluating the qualifications of individuals who will apply, under Clause 13(f):- “good judgement, including common sense, will be elements of which shall include a sound balance”. view