NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 8 – A constitutional petition has been filed at the High Court seeking to invalidate the conferment of the rank and dignity of Senior Counsel on dozens of advocates, arguing that the process violated the Constitution and was undertaken without a valid legal framework.
In the petition filed by Eliud Karanja Matindi, a public interest litigant, the court is asked to declare unconstitutional the recommendation and conferment of Senior Counsel titles on 97 advocates, including senior lawyers, politicians and judges, conferred between 2013 and 2025 .
Matindi argues that the Committee on Senior Counsel lost its legal mandate following the repeal of the Advocates (Senior Counsel Conferment and Privileges) Rules in January 2024, rendering any subsequent recommendations unlawful.
He further claims that even before the repeal, the process lacked transparency, accountability and public participation as required under Article 10 of the Constitution .
The petition names the Committee on Senior Counsel and the Attorney-General as respondents, while the Chief Registrar of the Judiciary and the Law Society of Kenya are listed as interested parties. Dozens of individuals who have previously been awarded the Senior Counsel title have also been joined as interested parties in the case .
According to the pleadings, the petitioner contends that the conferment of Senior Counsel is a public honour bestowed on behalf of the people of Kenya and therefore cannot be treated as an internal professional process.
He argues that the public was never involved in identifying or vetting candidates, making the entire process unconstitutional.
The petition further challenges the most recent conferments made in December 2025, arguing that there were no regulations in force to guide the process, and that the President acted without constitutional authority in approving the awards .
Among the orders sought, Matindi wants the court to invalidate all the conferments made since 2013 and direct the Chief Registrar of the Judiciary to expunge the affected names from the Roll of Senior Counsel maintained under the Advocates Act .
Justice Bahati Mwamuye has directed the petitioner to serve all respondents and interested parties by January 16, 2026. Responses to the petition are to be filed by January 30, with the hearing scheduled for March 9, 2026, to be conducted virtually through the highlighting of written submissions.
The case is expected to test the legality of Kenya’s framework for awarding the prestigious Senior Counsel title and could have far-reaching implications for the legal profession and past presidential conferments.
