•In this case, the JSC after their announcements on Tuesday, will have to send the name to the president who will appoint Koome to succeed former CJ David Maraga.
•After the president is satisfied by Koome’s achievement, he then sends the same communication to the National Assembly.
Image: FILE
The Judicial Service Commission has chosen Justice Martha Koome as the first woman who is set to lead the Judiciary as the next Chief Justice.
With many people congratulating her on the nomination, many are also against it.
But what next after her nomination?
According to the Constitution, the President shall appoint the Chief Justice and the Deputy Chief Justice, in accordance with the recommendation of the Judicial Service Commission.
In this case, the JSC after their announcements on Tuesday, will have to send the name to the President who will appoint Koome to succeed former CJ David Maraga.
After the President is satisfied by Koome’s nomination, he then sends the same communication to the National Assembly.
In the communique to Parliament, the President will send an original copy of the Judicial Service Commission’s Report on recruitment and selection process for the Chief Justice and her Curriculum Vitae.
This is to be submitted in line with the provisions of Article 166 (1) of the Constitution.
With this, the President will seek the approval of the National Assembly on the said nomination.
When it reaches Parliament, they shall within seven days invoke Section 8 of the Public Appointments (Parliamentary Approval) Act, 2011.
This provides that the Departmental Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs should table its Report for debate and decision within 14 days from when the notification of nomination is given.
The Committee should notify the nominee and the general public of the time and place for holding the approval hearings expeditiously.
The notification should therefore be made immediately.
After the committee finalises the report, they table it in Parliament and the members are tasked to accept or reject the nominee depending on the committee’s report.
If the National Assembly approves the nominees under Article 1(2)(h), the President shall, within three days after receiving the notification from the National Assembly, appoint the nominee.
If the National Assembly rejects a nominee submitted by the President, the President shall, within three days after receiving the notification from the National Assembly, submit the name of a new nominee to the National Assembly and the provisions of this subsection shall apply with necessary modifications with respect to the new nominee.
After the name has been returned to the president, the nominee will then be sworn in to fill the vacancy.
Koome has 33 years of experience in legal practice under her belt and a significant portion of those years has been in public service as a defender of human rights.
For this, she has earned international accolades for tremendous contribution to jurisprudence in the expansion of the rule of law and defence of the vulnerable.
She is an acclaimed expert in family law and she takes a keen interest in children which earned her a recent recognition by the United Nations where she was named the UN person of the year run-up in 2020.
During her interview, Justice Koome expressed her concerns about the country's laws in relation to gender. She said many have been socialised to look at women as second-class citizens who are not supposed to take part in leadership positions.
Justice Koome said she subscribes to feminist legal arguments that contend that the law corresponds with structures of patriarchal dominance and oppression.
She told the commission she would negotiate with the Executive to unlock a stalemate over 41 judges yet to be appointed by the President.
She will serve for 10 years, unless she opts for early retirement at 65.