Nine judges to know fate on April 25

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The chairman of the Vetting of Judges and Magistrates Board Sharad Rao said March 25, 2012 that the report on the suitability of nine judges will be released on on April 25. FILE 

By PETER MWAI pmwai@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted  Friday, March 30  2012 at  13:52

Nine senior judges will know whether they will continue serving in the Judiciary next month.

The board charged with vetting judicial officers said Friday it will release its report on the suitability of a Supreme Court judge and eight Court of Appeal judges on April 25.

Judges and Magistrates Vetting Board chairman Sharad Rao said contrary to expectations, lawyers didn’t turn out in large numbers to table complaints. There were also no major claims of involvement in corruption and bribery against the judges.

However, Mr Rao said the situation could change as they move down the judicial ladder in the vetting process.

“Court of Appeal judges sit and deliver judgments as a panel. If you have to bribe, you have to bribe them all. This makes it hard. But it could be a very different story with the High Court judges or magistrates,” Mr Rao said.

He called on members of public to come out in large numbers to table their complaints and also commendations in the vetting of other judicial officers.

“If you don’t tell us, our scope is limited. Bring out not only the negative elements but also the positive ones,” he said.

The board also tests professional competence, written and oral communication skills, integrity, fairness, temperament, good judgment, legal and life experience and demonstrable commitment to public and community service.

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Justice Riaga Omolo was the first to be vetted on February 23 with Justice Onyango Otieno being the last on March 28.

The others were Justices Philip Tunoi, Joseph Nyamu, Erastus Githinji, Alnashir Visram, Emanuel Okubasu, Onyango Otieno and Philip Waki.

All the interviews were conducted in private. Mr Rao said that was within the Act, which only allows interviews to be held in public if the concerned judge or magistrates requests so.

Judges will be notified before the announcement of the decision next month, together with reasons for the decision which will also be made available to the public.

Those dissatisfied with the decision of the board have seven days to appeal. This, however, can only be done on “the discovery of a new and important matter, not within the knowledge of the judge or magistrate at the time of determination".

They can also ask for a review if a mistake or error apparent on the face of record is noted. Otherwise, the decision of the board shall be final.

Justice Albie Sachs, who is from South Africa, said the absence of an option for appeal in other courts will save the country the pain of cases dragging for years in courts. He added that judges will be saved the dilemma of being “judges in their own cases".
Mr Rao assured that due diligence will be followed and that the decision will be fair to all parties.

The board is now expected to vet High Court judges who were in office before August 27, 2010, the Registrar of the High Court, the Chief Court Administrator and magistrates in that order.

Two of the judges, Jackton Ojwang’ and Mohamed Ibrahim who are now serving in the Supreme Court will be the first on April 26 and 27 respectively.

Starting May 2, interviews for the other High Court judges including those recently promoted the Court of Appeal will take place.

Board member Justus Munyithya said the completion of vetting top officers will be opportune for they will be tasked with hearing some of the complaints concerning outcomes of the next General Election.

The board expressed concern over the time remaining saying it could be forced to seek an extension.

The Vetting of Judges and Magistrates Act, 2011 which came into force on March 2011 gives the board a period of one year.

Six of the members were sworn in on September 12, 2011 and the remaining three who are foreigners on January 19, this year.

According to Mr Rao the team expects to vet High Court judges by August this year and announce their decision in the first week of September.This roughly means the board has up-to January next year to complete its work.

There are 45 High Court judges and 352 magistrates to be vetted.

“If roughly we take a day to vet magistrates, you can see we need more time. It is likely we will seek an extension,” he said.

The Act gives the board permission to request for an extension of one year from Parliament.