Nairobi, Kenya, July 13 – Justice Sifuna Nixon Wanyama has proposed the introduction of standby cause lists in courts as one of the innovative ways to tackle the backlog of cases in the country.
Justice Wanyama said Wednesday when he appeared before the Judicial Service Commission for an interview for the position of Judge of the Court of Appeal that the move will allow judicial officers to proceed with other cases in the event of the collapse of the main case.
“We should have some standby cases on the cause list such that should the main case collapse, this can be heard instead of cases collapsing and then the judicial officers decide to go to chambers,” he said.
He went further to say that currently some cause lists are unrealistic noting that some magistrates and judges have many matters in a day that is impossible to handle.
“I am saying instead of having 50 matters, just decide that on a day you will hear five matters, list them. You could put just three others on standby probably the old matters in the event that others collapse these could be heard,” he said.
He added that the courts should also come up with a backlog committee whose main task would be just to look into the backlog issues.
He further suggested that the courts should also introduce cause lists for unopposed motions and the systematic weeding out of files.
While defending his performance record, Sifuna said that his background in environmental law would play a key role in the handling of environmental disputes if appointed to the court of appeal.
Justice Wanyama added that the judiciary needs to carry out outreach activities in different parts of the country to sensitize members of the public on their mandate.
He added that courts should also set an open day for the court of appeal judges to interact with the members of the public to provide them an opportunity to learn from each other.
