The Court of Appeal has upheld the mandatory Law Society of Kenya (LSK) membership requirements for all advocates in the country.
In a ruling delivered on Friday, 25 July, the court dismissed an appeal, which was submitted by an advocate who had challenged the constitutional legitimacy of the Advocates Act, which stipulates that all advocates in the country must register with LSK to practice law.
According to the individuals, the act violated Article 36 of the Constitution, which guarantees the freedom of association.
In a ruling delivered in March 2019, the High Court had dismissed the same petition, citing the lack of sufficient evidence that would demonstrate the invalidity of the act and how it violated the rights in the Bill of Rights.
Following the High Court's decision, the appellant went ahead with an appeal to challenge the High Court's ruling; however, the Court of Appeal has noted that it found no merit in the appeal.
"The learned judge of the high court held that the petitioners had failed to demonstrate the constitutional invalidity of the impugned provisions or how they violated any of the rights of the bill," the Supreme Court noted.
"We accordingly find no merit in the instant appeal for the foregoing reasons. The appeal is therefore dismissed with no order as to cost, given its public interest nature," the part of the ruling read.
In Kenya, all advocates are required to be registered with the LSK to ensure professionalism, competence, and ethical conduct within the legal profession.
The registration with the LSK also serves as a guarantee to clients that their legal representative meets the necessary standards.
The ruling comes amid the ongoing crackdown, spearheaded by the LSK, which is targeting individuals purporting to be legal officers, yet they are not legally registered.
On June 5, LSK, in collaboration with security agencies, nabbed five individuals in Bungoma County who had been running unauthorised law firms for 13 years.
According to the LSK representative Steve Mbugua, the individuals were using the law firms to swindle funds from unwitting residents.
Following the apprehension of the individuals, LSK managed to recover vital documents, including files of ongoing court cases.
"The individuals have been running four separate law firms. Unfortunately, these offices have been there for quite some time, since 2013, and we have realised that they have been conning members of the public of millions of shillings," Mbugua said.
