This archive report was first published on 3 November 2021.
On November 3, 2021, Chief Justice Martha Koome issued a directive to ensure that all persons facing robbery with violence charges receive legal representation at the expense of the State if they cannot afford it.
This directive is in line with Article 50(2)(h) of the Constitution, which requires that an accused person be provided with an advocate at the expense of the state if substantial injustice would be occasioned to the accused due to lack of legal representation.
However, the practice has been that only those charged with murder tend to receive free representation for capital offences.
Chief Justice Koome has directed the Judiciary chief registrar, Anne Amadi, to engage the solicitor general and concerned agencies to support the National Legal Aid Services (NLAS) in implementing the directive.
Justice Koome has also appointed Kennedy Bidali, the Judiciary Ombudsperson, to liaise with the registrars of all courts to come up with a monthly report on the implementation of the directive across the country.
"Bidali...is hereby appointed to work with Registrars of the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, High court and Magistrate courts assisted by the Directorate of planning and Organisation Performance (DPOP) to prepare and present, to my office, monthly status reports of implementation of this circular and a formula for implementation to be considered and scaled to all courts across the country," the CJ said.
Bidali was appointed as the first Judiciary Ombudsperson in September 2011.
The CJ emphasized that robbery with violence under section 296(2) of the Penal code is a capital offence, and it is imperative that persons charged with the said offence have legal representation.
