•The lawyers complain that the commission has not accorded advocates enough consideration in functions and that in some, have kept them waiting for hours
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A big fight is simmering between lawyers and the Judicial Service Commission, with advocates claiming JSC is "out of touch with the needs of the public and showing disrespect to them".
The issue emerged on Friday after current and former presidents of the Law Society of Kenya Eric Theuri and Nelson Havi complained that the commission was not serving the public right and that it does not respect advocates enough.
JSC was not available to comment on the concerns of the advocates by the time of the press.
Theuri claimed that during recent functions convened by the JSC and to which advocates were invited, the commission showed spite to them, kept them waiting for hours and did not address any matters they raised that impacted the administration of justice.
The functions, he said, were in Eldoret and in Mombasa, when the JSC commissioners were inspecting court premises.
“JSC commissioners have treated advocates with utter contempt and disregard during their inspection of court premises. In Eldoret, they kept advocates waiting for hours. In Mombasa, they disrespected advocates and failed to respond to their issues,” Theuri alleged.
He claimed the commission has become complacent and not entertaining dissenting views from its stakeholders.
“JSC is out of touch with serious challenges of inefficiencies faced by the public and appears interested in hearing praises only,” he said.
The LSK has two representatives at the JSC, male and female. They are Macharia Njeru and Jackline Ingutiah.
“The legal profession has paid a heavy price for the wrong choice of representatives to the Judicial Service Commission,” Havi said.
Omwanza Ombati, who has declared candidacy in being the male representative to the JSC when Njeru’s term expires, said the commission has to work closely with advocates and accord them respect in public interest and for seamless administration of justice.
“The JSC commissioners must respect advocates. We are the priests of the law. This is an irreducible minimum,” he said.
Njeru was elected to the commission in 2019 and his term is coming to an end soon.