Chief Justice Martha Koome has lauded Small Claims Courts for bridging the justice system gap by resolving more than a third of the cases filed in a bid to reduce the backlog of cases witnessed in the past three years.
Since the first adjudicator was appointed in April 2021, the Judiciary has 81 adjudicators across 37 operational courts across 33 counties.
According to the head of the Judiciary, as of June 2024, the Small Claims Courts had handled 81,640 cases, resolving 68,167 and releasing 12.6 billion shillings back into the economy, with 13,473 cases currently underway.
"We are actively rolling out more Small Claims Courts to ensure prompt resolution of commercial disputes involving values of less than 1 million shillings within 60 days," said CJ Martha Koome.
'With new locations in Voi and Garissa set to launch on July 24, 2024. The informal and simple procedures in the courts have reduced case determination times to a median of 66 days."
Small Claims Courts are specialized commercial courts created by statute with specific duties and powers designed to provide a judicial determination involving small amounts of money.
The courts are characterized by simplicity of procedure, cost-effectiveness, and speedy resolution of disputes thereby enhancing access to and expeditious delivery of justice.
The judiciary has made significant steps to revamp the judicial system in the courts by rolling out digitization and automation that has seen the nationwide rollout of electronic-filing, which allows for remote case filing, fee assessments, case status inquiries, automatic case allocation, and document downloads.
The digital initiative was aimed at enhancing Kenya’s expedition of court proceedings by improving the effectiveness and efficiency of service delivery in the justice administration.
The CJ further hinted that they were yet to introduce an Artificial Intelligence-powered transcription system and establish a Judiciary Transcription Centre for broader support.
Among these reforms include the new Judiciary Data Dashboard that will enable real-time performance monitoring of courts and judicial officers.
There will also be a public court decision portal that will offer easy access to case decisions.
The Chief Justice, while hosting a roundtable discussion with the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) on Tuesday, assured Kenyans of the Judiciary and the Judicial Service Commission's unwavering commitment to ensure that the courts efficiently deliver.
