Friday, July 27, 2012

Judges go slow on poll date ruling


Judges go slow on poll date ruling

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The eagerly awaited Court of Appeal ruling on whether or not the general election will be conducted on March 4, 2013 might be delayed. The ruling was supposed to be delivered on July 31. However, this might be delayed, according to a letter of protest sent to the Chief Justice Willy Mutunga by Appeal Court President Erastus Githinji in relation to last week's decision by the Judges and Magistrates Vetting Board. The vetting board announced it will withhold its verdict after vetting the three appellate judges until they complete and deliver their ruling on the election date.
The July 20 letter which has been seen by the Star says: “The three judges have informed me, and have asked me to convey to your honour that the postponement has totally devastated them both mentally and physically and that they cannot humanly continue performing judicial functions including dealing with the two appeals or any other appeal until they know whether or not they would continue serving in the judiciary.” “It would have been preferable if the vetting board had announced its decision on the suitability or otherwise of the three judges and leave it to the judiciary to handle the consequences of its decision if any,” added the letter written by Justice Githinji on behalf of the three judges.
This implies that the judges will either adjourn the matter when it comes up for ruling on July 31 or the judges will go ahead and issue their verdict.  The human rights lobby group CREAW wants the March 4 election date set by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission declared illegal. The case is being heard by a five-judge bench.
All the five judges have been vetted. Two of the judges have been cleared while the board is expected to make known its decision on the other three judges on August 2, according to an announcement by the board. In its statement, the board chaired by Sharad Rao said it had decided to withhold its decision "in good faith". “The board regrets that its decision to defer determinations in respect of Justices Kalpana Rawal, Martha Koome and David Maraga has impacted on them negatively. The board's action was taken in good faith,” said the board's response sent by its vice-chair Roseline Odede.
The response comes two days after judges protested the board's decision saying it amounted to interference with independence of judiciary. The judges expressed displeasure at what they said was the board's attempt to direct their work yet the judges were supposed to be independent. They directed their concerns to the CJ who wrote officially to the board asking it to expedite its decision.

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