Chairman’s Statement

The mandate of the National Council for Law Reporting (Kenya Law) is outlined in the National Council for Law Reporting Act as: the preparation and publication of the reports known as the Kenya Law Reports, which shall contain judgments, rulings and opinions of the superior courts of record; undertake such other publications as in the opinion of the Council are reasonably related to the preparation and publication of the Kenya Law Reports; and perform any other functions conferred on the Council by or under the provisions of any other written law. In addition to this, the Hon. Attorney General delegated the powers of law revision conferred on him by the Revision of Laws Act (Cap. 1) to Kenya Law by virtue of Legal Notice No. 29 of 2009.
The core functions of Kenya Law are therefore to publish the Kenya Law Reports and related publications and to revise, update and publish the Laws of Kenya.
Towards the achievement of this twin mandate Kenya Law in its Strategic Plan 2013-2017 set out four key result areas, which would be the road map for the provision of its services. These areas are:
1. Provision of Public legal information
2. Policy and legal framework
3. Institutional Development
4. Branding, Visibility and Corporate Image
Kenya Law is privileged to publish the 2016/2017 Annual Report detailing the strategic objectives and performance highlights for this period. This annual report documents the various initiatives undertaken towards the attainment of our twin mandate of law reporting and revision of laws so as to have an enlightened society. This is in keeping with our mission to provide universal access to Kenya’s public legal information for the promotion of the rule of law. This has been largely done through: the preparation of law reports and related publications, legal research, revision and timely amendment of County and National laws, legal awareness through public interactions, stakeholder engagements and provision of information and advice to the public.
In keeping with its commitment towards enhancement of a robust, facilitative policy and legal framework, Kenya Law consistently endeavors to ensure that all its policies and procedures are reviewed and updated. Among those that were presented to the Council for ratification, in the period under review, were the Kenya Law ICT Policy and the Kenya Law Finance Policy and Procedures Manual.
In the year under review, the organization committed itself to specific, measurable, attainable and realistic goals by signing a Performance Management and Measurement understanding (PMMU) with the Judiciary. The PMMU was geared towards enhancing the organizations performance and effectiveness.
For the third consecutive year, Kenya Law’s performance was exemplary and the organization was recognized as the best performing State Corporation within the Judiciary.
None of these achievements outlined in this report would have been possible without the innovation, resourcefulness, commitment and hard work of the Council, staff, partners, and other stakeholders. In this regard, and on behalf of the Council of Kenya Law, I would like to expresses gratitude to the management and the entire Kenya Law team for work well done. I would also like to acknowledge the commitment of all Council members for facilitating the smooth operations of the organization in the period under review.
In conclusion, we express our gratitude for the honor granted to us in service to the people of the great Nation of Kenya in various capacities at Kenya Law. While we celebrate the work that we have done so far, we understand that the needs and expectations of the people are ever changing and increasing and that it is our responsibility to keep satisfying and even exceeding those expectations. We remain committed to achieving our mandate in an accountable and result-oriented manner in order to realize the constitutional aspirations and Kenya Vision 2030’s Social, Economic and Political development goals.

Hon. David Kenani Maraga, EGH
Chief Justice & President of the Supreme Court
Chairman, National Council for Law Reporting

Chairman’s Statement

The National Council for Law Reporting plays a critical role in the judicial process, as it is the institution, which acts as the repository of all the jurisprudence that is generated by the courts of the Republic of Kenya.

This annual report relates to the financial year 2015/2016 when my predecessor Hon. Dr. Willy Mutunga SC, was the Chair of the National Council for Law Reporting. The Judiciary has since undergone a successful transitional process and I succeeded Dr Mutunga as the chair of the Council on 27th October 2016. I am in this respect ‘holding brief’ in reporting the successes and developments in the National Council for Law reporting in the FY 2015/2016.
This is the fourth year of the implementation of Kenya Law’s Strategic Plan, which set forth, ambitious and far reaching targets for the organization. I am pleased to report that most of these goals have been met and in some cases surpassed.

The financial year 2015/2016 offered us an opportunity to strengthen our internal processes as part of the wider improvements that we have been undertaking. In this regard the Council for Law Reporting adopted a revised and updated board charter, which will guide its operations in accordance with the standards that have been set by Mwongozo the corporate governance standards for state corporations.

We have also enhanced and improved the internal audit oversight function with the objective of providing independent oversight of Kenya Law’s financial reporting and internal control systems: ensuring checks and balances so as to guarantee appropriate remedial action is always taken in time thus enhancing the quality, integrity and reliability of the organization’s financial reporting and internal controls.

Kenya Law aims to make public legal information accessible so as to promote the rule of law.

e are happy that in this financial year we were able to receive additional funding from the World Bank under the Judiciary Performance Improvement Project (JPIP) to undertake a programme, which we have named “Know your Law” whose objectives are to simplify the text of statutes; translate them into Kiswahili and sensitize the public so that they may be empowered to continue engaging the various governance structures of the country.

Kenya Law has made major strides in positioning itself in the global front as a premier law reporting and research institute. In this regard we continue to offer mentorship and training to other legal information institutes in the continent. We were privileged to host eight countries from eastern Africa at a workshop in Nairobi where we discussed ‘ the role of free access to law in deepening democracy and the rule of law.

On the overall, Kenya Law has made some tremendous gains in the period under review and as we draw closer to the end of our strategic plan period, we are relooking at our activities and priorities and already strategizing for the next planning period.
I would like to thank the Council and the management at Kenya Law for their contribution towards making this organization a proactive, dynamic and successful state corporation.

Hon. David Kenani Maraga, EGH
Chief Justice & President of the Supreme Court
Chairman, National Council for Law Reporting

I am pleased to present the Annual Report of the National Council for Law Reporting. This report takes stock of the Council’s activities in the financial year 2014/2015 while looking forward to the activities of 2015/2016. Kenya Law continues to position itself as Africa’s leading law reporting and research institution. The Members of the Council of Kenya Law have provided policy direction and support that has ensured that the Management of Kenya Law is able to deliver on its promises to the Kenyan people.

This report is in relation to the third year of implementation of the Judiciary Transformation Framework whose objectives are to ensure equitable access to and expeditious delivery of justice. Kenya Law plays the important role of ensuring that judicial decisions are widely and freely disseminated thus oiling the wheels of justice. The critical task of providing free accessible legal information to the citizenry is even more paramount as it supports the implementation of Kenya’s Constitution through engendering public participation and therefore promoting the rule of law.

Our achievements have been made possible by the wise counsel of the Council members, and I commend them. I would also like to commend all staff members at Kenya Law who have ensured that our mandate is fully discharged in 2014/2015.

On behalf of the members of the Council, I congratulate Kenya Law on the achievements of 2014/2015 I take this opportunity to urge the Council, Management and staff to continue to meet the organizational mandates of law reporting and law revision, living up to the official slogan “Where Legal Information is Public Knowledge”

To all our stakeholders, and in particular, the Kenyan public, I wish to assure you that we remain committed to meeting the expectations of Kenyans as expressed in the Constitution, the National Council for Law Reporting Act and the Council’s Strategic Plan.

Dr. Willy Mutunga

D. Jur, SC, E.G.H, Chief Justice, President of the Supreme Court of Kenya, Chairman, National Council for Law Reporting

This is the third year of implementation of the Judiciary Transformation Programme and we are now beginning to see the results of activities under this programme.

Kenya Law plays a very instrumental role in the justice and legal sector, as it is the channel through which the jurisprudence developed by the Judiciary, and by extension that of Kenya, is sifted, sorted and disseminated. This is especially critical in view of the Constitutional requirements on the right to information.

The past year has been one of consolidation of all the gains that we have been able to achieve from the year 2001 when this institution was formally established. All the investments in ICT systems and human capital are beginning to come full circle and we are now seeing a mature institution that is not only able to manage and deliver its mandate but that is also a shining beacon of what a small group, properly focused, can achieve with the right ICT tools.

The case law database has in the last year been revamped and reengineered to ensure that it is responsive to the needs of its users by being extensively searchable and the results downloadable in various formats. In addition to this we have also ensured that we minimize the time lag between the close of the year and the printing and publication of the law reports. This is an ongoing activity on which we continue to improve on.

We have expanded the ambit of the database of the Laws of Kenya to include the County Assemblies, which constitute the other level of Government and, I must add, one which in the near future is bound to generate a large amount of  legislation that is most relevant to the people of Kenya.

There is no doubt that Kenya Law has made tremendous strides in ensuring that public legal  information is freely and easily accessible. We are also alive to the fact that change is really the only constant in this field which is so reliant on communications and technology. We shall therefore continue to lay emphasis on innovation and customer focus so as to ensure that Kenya Law is able to meet its mandate of enlightening society through provision of public legal information.

Dr. Willy Mutunga

D. Jur, SC, E.G.H, Chief Justice, President of the Supreme Court of Kenya, Chairman, National Council for Law Reporting

Letter from the Chairman

The year 2012/2013 has been an eventful year for the National Council for Law Reporting (Kenya Law). Most prominently, we adopted a new brand name - Kenya Law – as a catchy alter ego to our formal and legal name, the National Council for Law Reporting. Of the utmost importance is the promise of this rebrand which is our renewed commitment to to provide universally accessible public legal information towards an enlightened society.

A number of innovations and partnerships have made the work of Kenya Law possible during the year under review. Our partnership with Samsung Kenya and the Strathmore University’s iLab to develop a mobile application will enable us to open new frontiers of access to public legal information for the citizen.

In order to simplify and provide comprehensive legal information to the public, our website was also redesigned and revamped for improved access to case law, the Laws of Kenya and the Kenya Gazette. We have followed through on our mission of “providing universal access to public legal information by monitoring and reporting on the development of jurisprudence for the promotion of the rule of law”, by initiating a project aimed at reclaiming lost jurisprudence and publishing special editions of law reports on emerging jurisprudence.

In line with the Economic and Social Pillars of the Kenya Vision 2030, we partnered with Digital Divide Data to engage in a socially responsible business process outsourcing project, where we outsourced the work of converting legacy editions of the Kenya Gazette (2007-2012) into digital web-friendly formats to a Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) service provider who employs the labour of socially and economically disadvantaged citizens. This created direct employment to more than 50 youths while at the same time enabling us to provide a user-friendly online version of the Kenya Gazette.

While we celebrate the work that we have done so far, we understand that the needs and expectations of the people are ever changing and increasing and that it is our responsibility to keep satisfying and even exceeding those expectations.

We remain confident that with the excellent leadership offered.

Forward From The Chairman

It gives me great pleasure to present, on behalf of the Members of the Council, the Annual Report of the National Council for Law Reporting for the year ended 31st December 2012. In 2012, the Judiciary launched the Judiciary Transformation Framework (2012- 2016). This framework, along with the Judiciary Strategic Plan for the same period, will be the reference points for the strategic direction of the Judiciary in reclaiming, reforming and repositioning its place as a vital, effective and independent arm of government. The role of the Judiciary in the development of a robust, indigenous, patriotic and progressive jurisprudence is a major component of this framework as is, necessarily, the role of the Council in capturing, preserving and reporting on the elements of this jurisprudence. More importantly, the Council is now discharging its mandate in the context of a country that has enacted a new Constitution and a Judiciary that is going through a phase of transformation and its role cannot be underestimated. Even as it captures the emerging jurisprudence, the Council has started to look back at previous judicial opinions that have been key in the evolution of Kenya's jurisprudence and which have been left out of reporting.

As part of the replenishment of the infrastructural, financial and human resource capacity of the Judiciary, the Council has benefited from a larger resource basket that has enabled it to be more effective in its operations for now and the years to come, and the milestones contained in this report are emblematic of this.

The optimal resourcing of the Council and the effective discharge of its mandate to serve not only the Judiciary and the legal sector but also to meet the Mwananchi's need for open, accessible and understandable public legal information remains my commitment and that of the other Members of the Council. Even as we take upon the challenges of years that are ahead of us, I remain thankful to our partners, our stakeholders, to the Members of the Council and its staff for their support during 2012.

The Hon. Justice (Dr.) W.M. Mutunga, D.Jur, SC, EGH

Chief Justice/ President, Supreme Court of Kenya

Forward from the Chairman

First, on my own behalf and that of the Board of the Council, I share my sympathies on the tragic bereavements that befell us in the last quarter of 2011.

I am pleased to present the Annual Report of the National Council for Law Reporting. This report takes stock of the Council’s activities in 2011 while looking ahead to the challenges of 2012. It underscores once again the broad range of initiatives that have undertaken in fulfilling our mission of improving access to justice by providing reliable and accessible legal information to the public.

Almost a year before I assumed the position of Chairman of the Council in June 2011, the citizens’ right to access to public legal information was established under Article 35 of the Constitution of Kenya 2010.  In 2011 the Council’s innovativeness and resolve to implement this constitutional mandate was evident in the following accomplishments: