The move by the Court of Appeal judges to get out of Nairobi and traverse the country to clear backlog of cases is quite reassuring. This week, they have set camp in Kisumu, where they intend to settle some 1,600 pending suits — an alarming figure and a perfect illustration of the magnitude of the challenges afflicting the Judiciary. Indeed, the national figure is huge. We believe this is the start of a comprehensive approach to streamlining court operations and enhancing administration of justice.
Only a few weeks ago, Chief Justice David Maraga issued a directive to judicial officers to expedite adjudication of suits before them this year, acknowledging that procrastination and the ensuing delays were undermining justice.
Delays in hearing and determining cases is a major drawback to social order. It is particularly disheartening that some of the pending cases involve low-income earners who cannot afford lawyers to argue for them in courts. But even more unfair is the scenario of innocent suspects whose cases drag for years and hence find themselves being punished even before they are judged.
Not that the judges and magistrates are solely to blame for the delays. There are a whole range of actors who are equally culpable. First are lawyers who are notorious for spurious adjournments that drag cases and occasion the backlog. Incidents abound where lawyers go to court unprepared or when they realise they are likely to lose, they find creative ways of prolonging the proceedings.
Second are the investigators and prosecutors who do not prepare concrete evidence to sustain the proceedings or are unable to frame their arguments cogently and because of that, end up seeking deferments leading to the logjam.
Justice Maraga is on record chastising investigators and prosecutors for bringing half-baked suits before the court and forcing deferrals because of weak evidence. Worse, some prosecutors file weak cases deliberate and particularly so with corruption matters where lapses are designed to achieve devious schemes.
To this extent, the crusade of disposing of long-standing disputes in courts must take a holistic approach. The Judiciary must impress on the investigators the imperative for proper evidence gathering to sustain lawsuits. Similarly, prosecutors have to raise the bar, test evidence and only proceed to file them in court when they are convinced they are watertight. Debate about backlog of cases in courts has gone on for years and it is pertinent the matter is brought to rest. In the final analysis, the Judiciary will only make an imprint on the national psyche if it lives to the creed of fair, expeditious and efficient administration of justice.
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