Members of Parliament have lost their immunity against getting served with court papers while in the precincts of Parliament.
Justice John Mativo on Monday declared sections of the Parliamentary Powers and Privileges Act that protected the legislators unconstitutional.
The High Court Judge found that the sections 7 and 11 were not in the spirit of the constitution ruling that: "Parliamentary immunity is not an individual privilege granted to members of Parliament for their personal benefit but rather for the people and the institution which represents them."
[caption caption="Justice John Mativo"]
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Section 7 of the Act stated: "No process issued by any court in Kenya in the exercise of its civil jurisdiction shall be served or executed within the precincts of Parliament while either one or both Houses are sitting; or through the Speaker or any officer of Parliament."
The Act further directed that parliamentary proceedings should not be questioned in court.
[caption caption="Lawyer Apollo Mboya"]
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"No proceedings or decision of Parliament or the Committee of Powers and Privileges acting in accordance with this Act shall be questioned in any court," Section 11 of the Act read.
Moments after the ruling was issued, Lawyer Apollo Mboya expressed his satisfaction with the decision.
“I'm happy with the ruling, because the Act made Parliament supreme to the Constitution as a House of secrets beyond the reach of a court process and, by extension, members of the public,” he told Kenyans.co.ke on the phone.
In the event, MPs seek to regain the privileges by formulating new laws, Mboya stated that they would challenge the actions in court.
On his part, Majority Leader Aden Duale read malice in the ruling, stating that Judiciary was interfering with the functioning of Parliament.
"That's illegal and it's part of a wider scheme where the judiciary is violating and the principle of separation of powers as contemplated by the constitution.
"Precedents of Parliament world over are regarded as an area of Privilege. The Judiciary cannot dictate how another arm of government conduct its affairs," he told Kenyans.co.ke.
[caption caption="Majority Leader Aden Duale"]
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