This archive report was first published on 11 July 2020.
On African Anti-Corruption Day, July 11, 2020, the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) President Nelson Havi emphasized the need for the Judiciary's financial autonomy to address the threat of data mining through the e-filing system.
LSK has expressed concerns that the Judiciary's reliance on the Executive for funding could hinder the progress made in digitizing the filing of court cases, citing the possibility of the system being abused to mine data.
“Lawyers have accepted the e-filing system. Still, there is merit in the complaint that the system may be abused to mine data. We need to know the capacity of the Judiciary to host and protect the data. Relying on the Executive to fund may halt progress,” Havi stated in a Twitter thread.
Chief Justice David Maraga has proposed allocating at least 1.5% of the national budget to enhance funding of courts, with the goal of progressively attaining the globally recommended benchmark of 2.5%. Currently, the Judiciary receives about 0.8% of the national budget.
