Embakasi East MP Babu Owino has sponsored a new Bill seeking to grant the Council of Legal Education (CLE), the power to allow other institutions besides the Kenya School of Law (KSL) to offer the Advocates Training Programme.
According to the MP, there is a need to devolve the service to cater to the increasing number of law students in the country.
Speaking while appearing before the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee on Tuesday, Babu said the number of higher education institutions offering LLB Degrees in Kenya has increased over the last few years.
This he said has put immense pressure on the Kenya School of Law Karen Campus.
"There is strain for the current Kenya School of Law facility in terms of resources and we also need to reduce the student-teacher ratio as the quality of training gets compromised,” said Babu Owino.
Babu's bill also seeks to grant CLE the mandate to prescribe through regulations, the admission requirements for persons seeking to enroll in all legal education programmes.
“This has been inspired by the conflict happening between the Kenya School of Law (KSL) Act and the Council for Legal Education (CLE) Act, and this had been handled earlier by Hon. Njeri Maina from this Committee. There are some students who are being discriminated upon to join KSL based on the grade that they scored in High School,” Babu Owino stated.
Babu is not the only legislator looking to change how KSL operates.
Kirinyaga Woman Representative Jane Njeri Maina has also proposed a new Bill that seeks to allow students who do not meet the requirements to gain admission.
Through the Kenya School of Law (Amendment) Bill 2023 the legislator wants students who have attained a minimum entry requirement for a Diploma in Law to be admitted.
Njeri also wants students who have attained a Diploma in Law from a University, University college, or any other institution recognized in Kenya to gain admission.
The legislator poses that her bill seeks to streamline the process of training legal students after years of reform calls from various stakeholders.
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