JUDICIARY, EXECUTIVE WAR

AG to appeal ruling that Uhuru lacked power to reject 41 judges

AG said the ruling indicated that the president is bound by JSC recommendations.

In Summary

• The Attorney General is dissatisfied with the judgement. 

• It has been six months since the JSC nominated 41 individuals for appointment as judges.

Attorney General Kihara Kariuki in his office . /COURTESY
Attorney General Kihara Kariuki in his office . /COURTESY

Attorney General Paul Kariuki will appeal the High Court's ruling that the President has no power to reject the 41 judges appointed by the Judicial Service Commission.

The AG is dissatisfied with the decision that the president violated the Constitution.

Kihara said that the ruling indicated that the president is, regardless of any other considerations, bound by the recommendations of the JSC.

 

He said that the High Court decision limits the president's ability to discharge his duty of protecting the values and principles of the Constitution.

"The Attorney General respectfully disagrees with this view of the law, as it disregards the Public Interest and instead focuses on an overly legalistic interpretation of the Constitution," a statement from the AG's office reads.

He said that the reasoning adopted by the High Court invalidates the Constitution's designation of the president as 'head of state and government'.

On Thursday, a bench of justices Lydia Achode, Chacha Mwita and James Makau said the judges adversely mentioned in the letter were entitled to know the allegations levelled against them.

It has been six months since the JSC nominated 41 individuals for appointment as judges.

The president defended his decision not to gazette the judges by saying he had received adverse reports on some of them from the National Intelligence service.

 

But the court said the President's delay in appointing the judges is unconstitutional and violates the Judicial Service Commission Act.


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