NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 6 – The Magistrates’ Courts registry has been been named overall best court registry in latest Judiciary performance index released on Thursday.
The Office of the Registrar led by the Peter Mulwa, facilitated access to justice by establishment of 2 new courts and initiated the process of developing mobile court policy guidelines, Judiciary’s Performance Management and Measurement Steering Committee noted in its 2018/19 review.
Speaking during the launch of the Performance Management and Measurement Understandings Evaluation Report (2018/2019), Chief Justice David Maraga commended the Magistrates’ courts for developing mobile court policy guideline which facilitated access to justice.
Maraga also commended the establishment of two new courts in addition to the development and dissemination of standards for bond approval requirements for public information.
Nyeri Employment and Labour Court under Justice Nzioki Makau was crowned best achiever with an impressive 495 per cent case clearance rate. He also reduced backlog by 66 per cent.
Malindi Court of Appeal led by Justice Daniel Masinga was named the best appellate court after hearing and determining 90 per cent of all criminal appeals placed before its bench within 180 days from date of receipt.
Overall, during the 2018/19 Financial Year, the Employment and Labor Relations Court emerged the most improved court at 12 per cent followed by the High Court which was rated at 10 per cent compared to the previous year.
“The overall Judiciary performance for all implementing units was 92.35 per cent while the courts’ cumulative performance was 91.95 per cent. This therefore means that most courts attained a score of over 90 per cent,” the report outlined.
Nonetheless, the CJ noted that he number of pending cases increased by 6.84 per cent between 2016/2017 and 2018/2019, from 533,350 to 569,810 across all courts.
He attributed this to increased case backlog further citing the stalemate over the appointment of the 41 judges recommended by Judicial Service Commission (JSC).
“The more cases we resolve the more cases are filed, which leads to an increase in case backlog. This therefore remains a big challenge for the Judiciary which, besides the improvement in our processes, will require unconstrained investment in resources, both financial and human,” he said.
During the event held at Supreme Court, Maraga also launched the Judiciary Strategic Plan for 2019-2023, Court Users Satisfaction Survey (2019), Judiciary Gender Audit Report, Employee Satisfaction and Work Environment survey (2019).
Bench Book on Environment and Land Matters, Judiciary Strategic Plan 2014-2018 Evaluation Report and Tribunals Case and Institutional Capacity Survey 2019 were also launched.
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