The Kenya judiciary is pleased to publish the first ever litigant’s chatter to disseminate information about the court, its processes and the methods of approaching it, all in a simple language understandable to its users. The chatter is an attempt to consolidate and build on the gains made by the open policy that we have adopted in our operations at the judiciary as exemplified by the judiciary open day that was held on 16-17 February, 2007.

The charter is designed to promote understanding by the litigating public of the processes of the court and their rights and obligations in the course of the litigation or other interaction with the court. It is a litigation-made-east hand book, which render the otherwise technical procedures of the court into a user-friendly simplified prose in common parlance. Moreover, the charter shall soon be available in Kiswahili translation for wider reach to our people.

As stated in its introduction, “our constitution guarantees the rights of every person to a fair and independent judiciary to facilitate the settlement of their disputes. As a corollary of these rights, each and every person has a right of access to information relating to the judiciary and how it operates in facilitating the administration of justice. This charter is prepared by the judiciary in recognition of this fact and with a view to improving the accessibility of our courts. This charter is a summary of the basic information you need to know to enable you to access and make use of court services effectively”.

The litigant’s charter is one of our various devises for making delivery of justice in Kenya more efficient and effective, through user-friendly systems that enhance the accessibility of the court to those who seek its services. The open day, the public information desks and the office for judicial complaints initiatives, among other judicial reforms, are all calculated to enable us to improve our service delivery to the people who seek justice through our courts.
Our commitment and desire to deliver efficient, effective and fair justice is best echoed in Article 40 of the English charter known as Magna Carter of 1215 A.D. in these words:
"To no one will we sell, to no one will we refuse or delay right or justice.” The litigant’s charter therefore cautions the litigants against paying any bribes or otherwise corrupting the judiciary officers, and instructs them on how to obtain expedition in the hearing and determination of their cases. Additionally, the charter makes provision for the lodging of complaints to the chief justice relating to any aspects of administration of justice by the court and relevant specimen forms are published in the charter for that purpose. The charter is truly a “Title Deed“ to the acquisition of justice through our courts, and we are very delighted to offer it to the public. Members of the public are accordingly requested to make scrupulous use of the charter for their benefits. The charter will be available for distribution through the public information Desks in the respective courts.