Chief Justice Martha Koome has urged magistrates and Kadhis to decline case adjournments in their courts saying the move would help in clearing backlogs.
She emphasised the need to strictly embrace a no-adjournment policy once a matter has been set down for hearing and limit the time in interlocutory applications.
The CJ said litigants and their advocates should be encouraged to move directly to the hearing of suits based on their merits.
Koome asked magistrates and Kadhis to prioritise old cases.
She spoke at Sawela Resort in Naivasha when she officially opened the 5th Annual Magistrates and Kadhis Colloquium.
Koome was accompanied by LSK President Eric Theuri, United States Department of Justice Resident Legal Advisor, Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu and Chief Registrar of the Judiciary Anne Amadi.
"All the cases that have been pending in court for over three years should be listed for mention before judicial officers for parties to take directions on hearing," she said.
"The judicial officers should communicate a no-adjournment policy and dispense with interlocutory applications that could be still pending in these cases that have been pending for over three years to ensure that they are resolved and removed from the system."
Koome said the Judiciary aspired to open doors of justice for all by removing formal, informal and systemic barriers to access to justice through the Social Transformation Access to Justice vision.
She said the identified priority areas under the STAJ vision include clearing case backlog and improving access to justice by increasing the avenues for accessing justice.
“Other areas include digitisation of the Judiciary operations and processes, enhancing public confidence in the justice system by strengthening our internal and external complaints mechanisms, and improving coordination and synergy of the actors within the justice sector,” she said.
The CJ appreciated the role played by the Magistrates and Kadhis Courts saying they were the actual doorways of justice in Kenya.
She said 85 per cent of the Judiciary’s caseload and the interaction of most litigants with the justice system took place at the Magistrates and Kadhis Courts.
“The implication is that if we get it right regarding service delivery then we will have resolved the problem of backlog, improve litigants’ customer experience, and facilitate access to justice,” Koome said.
She encouraged the magistrates and kadhis to manage cause lists properly because this would help in case management.
She said judicial officers should list the number of cases that they can handle in a day to avoid instances of litigants and advocates travelling to court only to be told that their cases cannot be reached.