'• Staff interacting with the public and dealing with crowds expressed concern for their safety.
• Contact details posted outside courthouses and on Judiciary website for urgent cases.
Courtrooms are busy places, often very crowded and staff are worried about the spread of the coronavirus.
Magistrates and judges are holding court outdoors.
Judicial officers have been directed to work from home in an escalation of measures to contain the spread of the virus.
In an internal memo dated March 23, Chief Registrar Anne Amadi said the directive shall take effect immediately owing to the seriousness of the health situation.
The government on Monday confirmed another patient had the virus, bringing the number of cases to 16 in Kenya.
Amadi said there were concerns about the safety of staff as they attend to wananchi and try to maintain social distancing.
The Judiciary has been providing minimal essential services across its stations to ensure access to justice is not completely disrupted. However, Amadi said safety concerns had been raised by staff.
“it is our view that the health and safety of the entire judiciary family must be prioritised,” Amadi said.
A spot check at the Milimani Law Courts on Tuesday showed minimal services were still being provided.
Amadi in her memo copied to Chief Justice David Maraga and Deputy CJ Philomena Mwilu said the staff shall work from home until further notice.
She also directed that the public be informed by placing appropriate notices at courts.
To facilitate urgent matters that cannot wait, Amadi said heads of station should provide two contact details.
The contact details will include the name of the officer, mobile telephone numbers and email addresses prominently displayed outside the court premises and uploaded onto the Judiciary website,” the memo reads.
Employees were also encouraged to adopt electronic case management practices where possible.
“These are temporary measures and we will provide further guidelines as the situation unfolds,” Amadi said.
edited by peter obuya