Saturday, July 7, 2012

Lawyers fault vetting of magistrates by JSC


Lawyers fault vetting of magistrates by JSC

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Chief Justice Willy Mutunga chaired a meeting with lawyers where they resolved to reverse the changes. Photo/FILE
Chief Justice Willy Mutunga chaired a meeting with lawyers where they resolved to reverse the changes. Photo/FILE 
By NATION REPORTER
Posted  Friday, July 6  2012 at  23:30
Lawyers have criticised a new law that empowers the Judicial Service Commission to vet magistrates.
In reaction to President Kibaki’s approval to amend parts of the Judges and Magistrates Vetting Board Act, through the new Miscellaneous Amendment Act 2012, Chief Justice Willy Mutunga chaired a meeting with lawyers where they resolved to reverse the changes.
On Friday, Dr Mutunga met representatives from the Law Society of Kenya, Commission on the Implementation of the Constitution, Judges and Magistrates Vetting Board, Commission for the Administration of Justice, Attorney-General’s Office and the Ministry of Justice.
A statement from the Judiciary said Dr Mutunga had called the meeting to “resolve concerns over changes in the law that grant JSC mandate to vet magistrates”.
“While recognising the centrality of the vetting process to judicial reforms, the forum pointed out the need to avoid midstream change that could give rise to suspicion that the process was not independent,” said the statement.
On Friday, President Kibaki signed into law amendments to the Judges and Magistrates Vetting Board Act, thus transferring powers to vet magistrates to the JSC, chaired by the Chief Justice.
But the lawyers argued that it was not the vetting body that mattered but the speedy conclusion of the vetting itself.
Already, the board had vetted Court of Appeal judges and was gearing for the rest of the judges, then the magistrates.
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MPs, while debating the proposals, argued that the JSC would be better placed to vet the magistrates and allow the board to complete screening judges before the next General Election.
Restore mandate
Dr Mutunga is said to have maintained the view that the overriding concern of the JSC at the time of the initial amendments to the law was the slow pace at which the vetting was proceeding.
Next week, the lawyers said they would prepare another set of proposed amendments to the law that would seek to restore the mandate for vetting judicial officers to the Judges and Magistrates Vetting Board. They would then hand them over to the Attorney-General for tabling in Parliament.
They agreed on other ways of fast-tracking the process, including revision of the work plan of the board.

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