•CJ Maraga says the resolutions are to ensure court operations are scaled up while the judiciary staff are also kept safe.
•All pending judgement and rulings will be delivered in open court.
The Judiciary has announced measures to scale up court functions by reviewing its operations in the wake of Covid-19 disease.
All suspects, will now be arraigned in court within 24 hours, irrespective of the nature of the offence.
Initially, Chief Justice David Maraga had instructed that some suspects be charged from police stations.
In the resolutions, all pending judgements and rulings will be delivered in open court after notice is issued to litigants or their advocates.
There have been efforts to have the same through video conferencing.
Hearing of criminal appeals by the High Court and the Court of Appeal will now proceed through modalities to be agreed upon by judicial stakeholders.
The review was made by the National Council on the Administration of Justice (NCAJ), after a virtual meeting aimed at reviewing the current situation in the administration of justice.
The meeting comprised of the Solicitor-General, the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Chief Executive Officer Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, the Commissioner General of Prisons, the President of the Law Society of Kenya and three other LSK Council Members.
“The council resolved to continue with our efforts to find the optimal balance between keeping the justice system up and running while safeguarding the health of our staff as well as members of the public,” said Justice Maraga, who is also the council’s chairperson.
“Where practicable, the appeals will be heard by video link and where facilities for video link are not available, in open court subject to compliance with the guidelines of the Ministry of Health in combating Covid-19,” said Maraga in his statement.
From Tuesday next week, operations and services in all registries shall be scaled up, with court registry supervisors reporting to the registries.
“There shall be a limited number of registry staff as shall be determined by stations,” he said.
Orders will henceforth be extracted by registries and released to litigants or their advocates within 24 hours.
In the directives, judges and heads of stations outside Nairobi have been asked to liaise with courts users committees and come up with guidelines on how hearings and appeals will be conducted.
“The NCAJ Subcommittee shall in conjunction with the heads of divisions in Nairobi come up with guidelines on how matters which were taken out between 16th March, 2020 and 22nd April, 2020 will be dealt with,” Maraga added.
The same also applies for stations outside Nairobi.
“The suspension of execution of civil orders and decrees and eviction orders made before 16th March, 2020, remains in force until 22nd April, 2020,” Maraga added.
The team is expected to meet on April 21st this year, to review progress of the resolutions.