Koome vows to champion environmental sustainability in Justice sector

Chief Justice Martha Koome has committed to advocate for environmental sustainability in the justice sector.

Speaking on Wednesday, Koome said she will ensure this by upholding the rule of law, protecting rights, ensuring sustainable development and promoting ecological sustainability

She spoke during the launch of a Strategic Guiding Framework for Greening Kenya’s Justice System.

Koome said the quest for justice is intertwined and inseparable from environmental sustainability.

She pointed out that the justice sector should lead by example and be the pacesetter to be emulated by other sectors.

"Through this Strategic Guiding Framework, we are affirming our renewed commitment towards integrating environmental sustainability into the functioning of our justice institution," Koome said.

CJ Koome acknowledged that the justice system has in the past not always been fully conscious of the environmental impact of its operations.

Hence, the quest to embed sustainability within the justice system requires a renewed commitment to change and a concerted effort towards efficient and effective administration of justice.

"The push for a greener justice system requires relentless efforts as it is about reorienting our practices to ensure we have a livable planet for the future generations," she said.

"Going forward, we as agencies and stakeholders in the Kenyan justice sector are committed to ensuring that we promote the goal of environmental sustainability."

Koome also noted that Strategic Guiding Framework calls for agencies within the justice system to integrate green practices into their core and operational functions.

"The Strategy provides specific recommendations for National Council on Administration of Justice (NCAJ) agencies, covering upscaling green investigations and arrests, enhancing green prosecution, institutionalising environmental safeguards to resolve cases within our courts, greening our sentencing practices, greening correctional services, promoting green legal empowerment and embedding a human rights approach in each greening element," she said.

The CJ further undertook to conduct civil and criminal justice reforms that support green justice, to ensure laws and legal practices actively promote environmental sustainability.

"At the grassroots level, we will upscale greening interventions through Court Users Committees (CUCs), bringing environmentally conscious practices closer to the communities we serve," she said.

The Strategic Framework also requires justice actors to implement reforms and interventions to enhance the administration and access to justice for vulnerable and marginalised persons.

These are particularly those disproportionately affected by climate change such as children, women, survivors of gender-based violence, and youth.

Others who addressed the forum included Environment CS Aden Duale, Director of Public Prosecutions Renson Mulele Ingonga and PS Correctional Services Salome Beacco.