Judiciary staff, LSK in tussle over reopening of courts

A directive by the National Council on the Administration of Justice (NCAJ) requiring courts to reopen from Wednesday this week has sparked protests and resistance among the Judiciary staff, including judges and magistrates, who are afraid of being exposed to the risk of contracting coronavirus.

In a letter to Chief Justice David Maraga, the staff have said the directive to resume judicial services and deliver judgments and rulings in open courts will expose them to the viral infection that has killed 13 people in Kenya since March 12 when the first case was reported in the country.

In the joint letter, the three associations representing Judiciary staff - Kenya Judges Welfare Association, Kenya Magistrates and Judges Association and Kenya Judiciary Staff Association - told Justice Maraga that their wellbeing and health were paramount.

According to them, the council’s directive can only be implemented subject to guidelines issued earlier by the government, such as having civil servants with underlying health issues and those aged over 58 years work from home.

Further, before resuming duty, they said, the Chief Registrar should engage the Ministry of Health and ensure that there is an audit of all courtrooms and registries.

The audit, they recommended, should be followed by guidelines regulating the total number of people that can be accommodated in the court premises at any given time in line with the ministry’s directive on social distancing.

The workers have also demanded a confirmation that all courtrooms have been fumigated and sanitised before they return to work. There are many judges who are above the age of 50.

“We should get a written assurance from the (health) insurers that the members’ medical cover will not be jeopardised by the unreasonable exposure to the pandemic,” reads the letter signed by Justice Alfred Mabeya, Justice Jacqueline Kamau and Mr Sango Maewa.

Court workers are also demanding that all documents must be filed electronically and where this is not possible, they can be lodged when the pandemic is over. This is because it is difficult for the Ministry of Health and the Registrar to confirm the safety of the documents that will be lodged at the registries by lawyers and litigants.

For the judicial staff without private means of transport, the associations have recommended that the Judiciary should provide transport for the staff to-and-from work so as to avoid possible contact with the infection through the public transport system.

They also expressed concern about the safety of judicial staff in counties where travel restrictions have been imposed, including Nairobi and Mombasa. In that regard, they want the Judiciary to procure safe passage authorisation in writing from the relevant government agencies for affected workers.

In addition, they want the Chief Registrar to ensure that all court stations are provided with adequate gloves, sanitisers and thermometer guns, N-95 face masks and other protective equipment for all judicial staff as well as for litigants and their lawyers.

Even as the judicial staff resist the reopening of courts, the Law Society of Kenya has been advocating for the resumption of hearings.

According to LSK, the judicial staff associations want their members to take a wage without working under the pretext of slowing down the spread of coronavirus infections.

Among the guidelines that Justice Maraga had gazetted were the use of teleconferencing, videoconferencing and other appropriate technologies in disposing of court cases.