- Amadi said the repealing of the Local Government Act away counties statutory mandate to establish courts to enforce their laws as was the case before.
- They are also not allowed to collect and retain fines from court cases arising from the enforcement of county legislation.
Image: JUDICIARY
The Judiciary has commented on the recent changes involving the transfer of cases from the city courts to Milimani Law Courts.
The changes announced on September 28, which took effect on October 2, directed that all pleas from Nairobi County be registered at Milimani.
In addition, cash bail and fines are to be paid at Milimani after the issuance of an invoice at the Milimani Law Court county registrar counter.
Chief Magistrate Gicheha said this was in line with a Memorandum of Understanding between the Judiciary and the Council of Governors on March 10, 2016.
Clarifying the move on Wednesday, Chief Registrar Anne Amadi said the Constitution 2010 brought about changes in the justice sector.
This includes the enactment of the County Governments Act, which repealed the Local Governments Act.
This took away counties' statutory mandate to establish courts to enforce their laws as was the case before.
They are also not allowed to collect and retain fines from court cases arising from the enforcement of county legislation.
Further, the repealing did away with the statutory basis upon which fines collected by the Judiciary from the enforcement of county laws can be remitted directly to county governments by the judiciary.
So as to collaborate in the implementation of the above, CoG signed the March 2016 MoU with a shared commitment to expand access to justice within the context of devolution.
"Under this MoU, the Judiciary and the CoG committed to overseeing the transition from local authority courts to ordinary courts dealing with county matters," Amadi said.
The Judiciary and the CoG also agreed that all revenue arising from the enforcement of county laws would be collected by the Judiciary and remitted to the exchequer.
In further engagement which included the Intergovernmental Budget and Economic Council (IBEC), a resolution was passed requiring the Treasury to open a County Courts Fine Account.
"In passing this resolution, IBEC noted that the current legal regime requires the Judiciary to remit all revenue - including fines from violation of county laws - to the National Treasury," Amadi said.
"...and that there is no framework permitting court fines from enforcement of county legislation to be transferred directly to County Governments."
She affirmed that the Judiciary will continue remitting these fines to the Treasury unless otherwise directed.
Amadi noted that there has been litigation on the operation of courts by county governments and retention of revenue realised from their enforcement of county laws.
The case which was decided by the High Court in Mombasa in February 2022, confirmed that it would be unlawful for a county government to collect revenue from a court presided over by a Magistrate provided under the Constitution.
"It is against this background that the Judiciary directed all court stations to establish special registries for county cases and configured the e-filing and Case Tracking System to ensure county matters and the revenue resulting therefrom is distinguishable," Amadi noted.
"Our recent directive on the initiation of cases at the court that has been operating at City Hall must be seen in this light."
The Judiciary has reiterated its commitment to the rule of law and assured that it will avail its officers, staff, and resources to handle matters arising from the enforcement of county legislation.