The Judiciary has been urged to put in place mechanisms to expedite cases of murder and enforced disappearances.
Lawyers, prosecutors and other actors in the criminal justice system all converged on Friday to commemorate the seventh anniversary of the death of rights lawyer Willie Kimani, his client Josephat Mwenda and driver Joseph Muiruri.
The event organized by the International Justice Mission(IJM) brought together senior representatives from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution, Directorate of Criminal Investigations, Independent Police Oversight Authority, and Judiciary and Internal Affairs Unit among others.
Speakers who spoke raised concern about the slowness of the cases going through the criminal justice system, especially in the Judiciary where a murder trial can take more than ten years to conclude.
It took 6 and half years for the Willie Kimani trial to be concluded after many court hearings and adjournments.
However lead prosecutor Nicholas Mutuku, while appreciating the efforts of the trial judge to hear 46 prosecution cases and 34 defence witnesses, said the case could have been resolved by 2017.
Mutuku said a lot needed to be done to help in expediting these cases before the court.
He said the judiciary and other players should put in place mechanisms like hiring more judges and also raising the jurisdiction of magistrates to hear murder cases.
“Is it a must that only judges should hear murder cases? Why not give magistrates the power to hear the cases in a bid to expedite the cases before the court.”
On his part, IJM President Africa-Europe Andy Griffins said extra-judicial killings should not take more than three years in court.
“All cases of extrajudicial killings should take three years and one year at the court of appeal,” he said.
Griffins thanked all players who assisted them secure justice for the families of the three victims.
“Whilst to most of us, this marks the end of a 7-year-long struggle for justice, for the families, the journey of reflection and healing will last a lifetime. While justice may have been served in court, the families continue to live in the reality of having lost their loved ones,” he said.
Willie’s widow Hannah Kimani also urged the judiciary to fast-track the cases saying the delay of these cases takes a toll on the victim’s family and no one should go through the long years that they went through in the quest for justice.
