Hundreds of women on remand across the country have benefitted from training by Fida in how to represent themselves on virtual courts.
Fida's virtual justice centres (VJCs) launched in 2020 at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic and government restrictions provided legal aid to women, teaching them how to make plea bargains and diversion guidelines while being cross-examined during trial.
As of September 30, 2021, 600 women in Lang'ata, 140 from Thika and 66 from Nyeri had received virtual self-representation training.
The free virtual sessions were conducted by lawyers who took up to 12 matters filed in Makadara, Kibera, Milimani, Kiambu, and Thika law courts. This was revealed in a report called 'Justice Gone Viral', which was launched on November 3.
“They (remandees) also got virtual self-representation training where they went through pre-trials and preliminaries of their cases to help them know how to address the court properly,” the report reads.
It further reads that the women watched other cases in progress virtually to help boost their confidence about representing themselves.
During the pandemic, access to justice was greatly hindered as restrictions put in place to mitigate the spread of Covid-19 saw courts closed and trials put on hold.
With the shift to virtual hearings, many Kenyans unable to access technology were at a loss; they could not attend hearings. Fida, therefore, stepped in and filled the gap.
Alice (not her real name), an inmate transferred from Mombasa to Kisumu, was worried that her case would be interrupted.
Through the self-representation training she received, she revealed in the report that she was able to conclude her case uninterrupted.
Fida-Kenya felt the need to duplicate this innovation to help female prisoners, having already addressed the access challenges faced by self-representing women.
They equipped Kisii, Thika, Lang'ata, Kodiaga, Nyeri, and Shimo la Tewa Women’s prisons with televisions, laptops, and other computer equipment to help them access hearings.
Naomi (not her real name), an inmate at the Nyeri Women’s Prison, is incarcerated together with her baby. She had to attend hearings with the baby before restrictions were put in place.
In the report, Naomi revealed her frustrations of having to face stigma from people during physical hearings.
“People used to stare at me during hearings, especially my baby, and give insensitive comments.
“VCJ was a convenience to my baby and me, as we usually need a lot of considerations before stepping out, let alone limiting exposure to Covid-19 contraction,” she says in the report.
The establishment of the centres was lauded by many, with Kisii Women’s Prison Correctional Corporal encouraging the Judiciary to fully adopt VCJs.
She said sensitive matters attracting cultural stigma such as FGM are being handled better on the e-platform than through physical hearings.
“For some crime survivors and witnesses, the ability to offer testimony remotely might encourage cooperation, allaying the fears and practical burdens of appearing physically to testify,” the report reads.
“For people charged with crimes, virtual options could mean the difference between languishing in jail and exercising the right to their day in court,” it concludes.
