Justice stops all hiring due to budget cuts

Due to government-wide budget cuts, the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) on Wednesday suspended all recruitment processes, including the planned recruitment of additional appellate judges.

In a statement by Chief Justice Martha Koome, who presides over the JSC, she attributed the suspension to the government’s decision to cut the judiciary budget by at least 15 percent.

Judge Koome explained that the judiciary learned of the impending budget cuts through a circular from the Ministry of Finance dated 28 June.

She pointed out that due to the reduced budget, the judiciary was forced to limit its spending to crucial and essential services.

“This direction has far-reaching implications for the work of the judiciary and the JSC. Regrettably, this has necessitated the decision of the JSC to suspend all pending recruitments, including those of the 11 judges of the Court of Appeal, which were due to begin today,” said Justice Koome.

The Chief Justice warned that the work of the judiciary would be significantly disrupted if it failed to recruit more appeal judges due to limited budgets.

“Currently, the Court of Appeal has a total of 29 judges serving in only six locations across the country, which means that nine benches are occupied at any given time. As of May 2024, the court had a total of 13,331 cases pending,” Koome explained.

The CJ explained that in order to improve access to justice and reduce the huge backlog of cases, the JSC had successfully pushed for amendments to the Judicature Act, Cap 8 of the Laws of Kenya, thereby increasing the maximum number of judges on the Court of Appeal from 30 to 70.

Koome said the tragic death of Makadara judge Monica Kivuti had also necessitated a restructuring and reallocation of the budget to increase security within the courts.

Judge Koome called on the government to allocate more resources this fiscal year to address the new security and logistical challenges.

“The administration of justice is the cornerstone of democracy and its effective functioning is critical to maintaining public order and respect for the rule of law. As part of our mandate to advise the national government on improving the efficiency of the administration of justice, the JSC will work with Parliament and the Executive to strengthen and secure the judiciary and the JSC budget,” she said.