The Law Society of Kenya on Tuesday slammed the Supreme Court on its ruling that overturned the decision of the Court of Appeal to declare the Finance Act 2023 unconstitutional.
LSK President Faith Odhiambo maintained that the decision of the Supreme Court to rule that the Finance Act 2023 was not what her society had expected from the most powerful court in Kenya.
However, Odhiambo expressed that they respected the outcome from the court especially on the need for the executive and legislative arms of government to conduct proper public participation in their policy decisions.
''We respectfully disagree with the approach taken by the court. Expeditiousness of the legislative process cannot be said to override legitimate expectation and public interest, nor can Parliament be exempt from the need to rationalise their decision under the guise of the legislative process not constituting an administrative action,’’ Odhiambo stated.
''Nevertheless, we welcome the Court's recommendation for the enactment of the statute to guide public participation."
According to the LSK President, the courts had a role to play in drafting public participation frameworks to address the recent spike in the number of cases that have been rendered negative judgments for lack of public participation.
''We, however, hope that should the Court be invited to make future considerations on the subject of public participation, they will provide a more elaborate and purposive guidance on the modalities, scope, and extent of Public Participation,’’ Odhiambo implored.
The LSK president also emphasised that the courts' involvement in creating a public participation framework would guide interested parties, such as Parliament, on how the courts interpret public participation requirements.
‘’They will provide a more elaborate and purposive guidance on the modalities, scope, and extent of Public Participation; with a view of closing the gaping loopholes created by today's determination for Parliament to act contemptuous to views collected during public engagements,’’ she added.
Odhiambo’s comments come after the Supreme Court gave the government the green light to continue the implementation of the Finance Act 2023, just a few days after the High Court okayed the housing levy deductions.
"The preliminary objection on this Court's jurisdiction is overruled," Ruled the Supreme Court adding, "We hereby set aside the Court of Appeal's finding declaring the entire Finance Act, 2023 unconstitutional."
The Judiciary has been under focus of many Kenyans following the two cases that the government won in court, as Kenyans cry in fear of more deductions from their salaries.
