An advocate has challenged the recent rules by the Supreme Court barring parties in the 2022 presidential election petition from speaking about it outside court.
Lawyer Omwanza Ombati says he is challenging the impugned rules for being unconstitutional, vague, unreasonable, irrational and unlawful.
He has sued Chief Justice Martha Koome as the president of the Supreme Court which issued the rules.
He wants the court to issue interim orders stopping any further implementation of rules.
Omwanza said that from the rules, parties in the matter, including advocates, have been prohibited from expressing their views and opinions on presidential election petitions.
They are also prohibited from predicting the outcome of the proceedings in any manner that would prejudice court proceedings.
However, he said every person has freedom of expression and this rules unjustifiably purport to limit these rights, to the detriment of litigants, their instructed counsel and even advocates' employees.
“The impugned rules equally limit, unjustifiably so, the freedom of the media, by which freedom, the state is prohibited from exercising control..." reads court papers.
“This right has been deterred by censuring persons who honestly, and in good faith, issue commentaries/opinions on cases before the courts for the enlightenment of the populace or critiquing the Judiciary with a view to hold it accountable.”
Omwanza said, although the impugned rules have far-reaching implications on the forthcoming presidential election, no public participation was conducted before they were issued.
“No views were taken from the three categories of people likely to be affected by the impugned rules,” he said.
The lawyer lists the three categories of people likely to get affected as the presidential candidates, advocates appearing for the litigants and general public.
“Considering that any voter may challenge a presidential election by lodging a presidential election petition, the general public would be the most affected group of people, as they far outnumber the two other cadres of affected persons,” reads court papers.
(edited by Amol Awuor)
