• Maraga said that civil cases and excusing proceedings hearings have been suspended, but pleas and hearing of criminal cases will continue.
• Judges and magistrates will review bail terms for those in remands and there will be no open court appearances by judicial officers.
Chief Justice David Maraga has ordered a scale down of court activities for two weeks over Coronavirus fears.
The National Council for the Administration of Justice met at the Supreme Court, Nairobi, on March 15, 2020 to deliberate on the implications of the announcement by the Ministry of Health that the first case of COVID-19 (Coronavirus) has been confirmed in the country.
The CJ said that prisoners and remandees will not be brought to court and new arrests except serious ones will be dealt with at police stations.
Maraga added that all appeals, hearings and mentions in Criminal and Civil cases in all courts are suspended with immediate effect but pleas and hearing of criminal cases will continue.
Judges and magistrates will review bail terms for those in remands and there will be no open court appearances by judicial officers.
All execution proceedings are also suspended during the two weeks.
"All workshops and conferences, foreign travel have been suspended for justice officers except in very critical cases," Maraga said.
During this time, all judicial officers and staff will continue being on duty. However, there will be no open court appearances.
Judges in all stations will in the meantime review the deserving cases already identified by Prisons authorities and issue appropriate revision orders in an effort to decongest the prisons. Magistrate Courts will also review bail terms for those in remand.
All conferences, workshops, colloquia and training programmes are suspended until further notice.
There will be no foreign travel for the next 30 days for staff of the justice sector institutions, whether official or private, save for exceptional circumstances.
An ad-hoc Inter-Agency Committee has been established to liaise with the National committee and advise the NCAJ on further precautionary measures on an ongoing basis.
NCAJ will review these directions from time to time as need arises.
The Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe confirmed Kenya's first coronavirus case on March 13, 2020.
"....the country has confirmed the first case of coronavirus from a patient who arrived in Kenya," he said.
The patient was a Kenyan citizen who returned on March 5 from the US via London, UK.
Kagwe said the patient is stable, and she will not be released until she tests negative.
Kenyan churches across the country on Sunday started enforcing strict measures for congregations in a move aimed at containing the spread of the Coronavirus.
The World Health Organisation on Sunday said there were 273 confirmed Covid-19 cases in Africa in 26 countries with 6 reported deaths.
In some of the churches across the country, greeting by hand, hugging and also provisions of lunch has been suspended until further notice.