Chief Justice and President of the Supreme Court of Kenya David Maraga on Monday indicated that the judiciary is on the verge of losing its credibility due to delayed judgement.
Speaking during the Annual Judges' Colloquium in Mombasa, the CJ raised concern that the continued cash crunch at the judiciary may affect the institution's efficiency in delivering justice.
"One of the cardinal principles in our Constitution is the expeditious delivery of justice. Justice delayed, is justice denied," Maraga began his address.
Maraga noted that if the delivery of justice to the sufferer is not timely, then it loses its importance and its a violation of their Human Rights.
Quoting Malaysian Constitutional lawyer Cyrus Das, Maraga noted: "Justice is a consumer product and must, therefore, meet the test of confidence, reliability and dependability like any other product if it is to survive market scrutiny.
"Credibility of the judiciary is at stake now due to mounting arrears of cases, delays in disposal and also the high cost of obtaining justice.
"The denial of justice through delay is the biggest mockery of the law. It does not amount to mere mockery, the delay, in fact, kills the entire fabric of the justice delivery system of the country," Maraga indicated.
While commending his team for a starling performance in the delivery of justice in political disputes, Maraga noted that there was a lack of efficiency in delivering justice for some court cases.
"There is no doubt that the perennial problem of the case of backlogs is a manifestation of denial of justice to victims. Sometimes, accused persons remain in remand for a longer period than the jail term they are likely to receive in case of conviction," Maraga noted.
Maraga revealed that as of 30th June 2018, there were 11,973 cases that have been pending in the courts for a period of more than 5 years.
He, however, added that this nevertheless marked an improvement urging the judges to rededicate in clearing the cases by the end of the year by holding "Service Weeks" in various stations.
The Chief Justice further noted that ICT policies are in place to help the judiciary in enhancing accessibility to Justice as well as promoting the alternative dispute resolution mechanism including arbitration, reconciliation and mediation.
