The history of Kenya’s Judiciary can be traced to the East African Order in Council of 1897 and the Crown regulations made there under which marked the beginning of a legal system in Kenya. I t was based on a tripartite division of subordinate courts; that is, Native courts, Muslim courts and those staffed by Administrative officers and Magistrates.

A dual system of superior courts was also established, one court for Europeans and the other for Africans. This system only lasted for 5 years.

Upon the realization by the colonial authorities of the need to have dispute resolution organs, village elders, headmen and chiefs were empowered to settle disputes as they had done in the pre-colonial period. These traditional dispute settlement organs gradually evolved into tribunals. They were accorded official recognition in 1907 when the Native Courts Ordinance was promulgated. This ordinance established native tribunals that were intended to serve each of the ethnic groups in Kenya.

The chief Native Commissioner was authorized to set up, control and administer the tribunals. The ordinance also established similar tribunals at the divisional level of each district and also authorized the governor to appoint a Liwali at the Coast to adjudicate over matters between the Muslim Community.

One could appeal against the decisions of these tribunals to the D.O and or D.C and finally to the PC. The final appeal lay with the Supreme Court.

The Native Appeals Tribunal’s ordinance 1930 reduced the number of elders sitting on a tribunal and also made it a requirement that a literate member records the proceedings. By 1950 these tribunals had evolved sufficiently for them to be converted into courts similar to those that hitherto served non-Africans. In 1950 the African Courts Ordinance abolished the Tribunals and replaced then with African Courts.

In dispensing justice under the relevant English and Indian laws where non-Africans were concerned, the administration of justice was entrusted to expatriate judges and magistrates. Appeals lay from subordinate courts to the Supreme Court. The head of the system was the Chief Justice while the administrative duties were carried out by the Registrar of the Supreme court. The main courts were established at the large urban centres such as Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu. Judges and magistrates on circuit served other centres

Muslim courts were headed by a chief Kadhi and were classified as subordinate courts. As such, appeals from Islamic courts lay to the Supreme Court.

The segregated system of administering justice prevailed until 1962 when the African Courts were transferred from the provincial administration to the Judiciary. Further, it was not until 1963 when the independence Constitution finally enacted that the beginning of a truly independent and impartial Judiciary was set up.

The Independence Constitution established a Supreme Court with unlimited original criminal and civil jurisdiction over all persons, regardless of racial or ethnic considerations.

The judges were to be appointed by an independent judicial service commission. The Constitution further provided for the establishment of a court of appeal and the Kadhi’s court.

When Kenya attained the status of a republic in 1964, the Supreme Court was renamed the High Court and remains so to date.

In 1967 three major laws were enacted. These were the Judicature Act (Chapter 8), the Magistrates’ Courts Act (Chapter 10) and the Kadhis Courts Act (Chapter 11). These Acts have streamlined the administration of justice in Kenya.