New Chief Justice Must Reach Out to Public to Restore Confidence in Courts

Peter Mwaura

24 June 2011

opinion

Nairobi — The new Chief Justice, Dr Willy Mutunga, must break from tradition and reach out to the public to restore confidence and trust in the independence, efficiency and impartiality of the courts.Public and community outreach is a tried means of restoring and increasing public confidence.

Experience in developed countries where people trust and support their judicial system shows that public and community outreach is not a hobby to be embarked on from time to time. It is a core function of the Judiciary. The courts must be committed to it.

The CJ must symbolically tear down the wall that his predecessor, Evan Gicheru, built around the Nairobi courthouse. The courts must be seen to be more accessible, community-oriented and user-friendly. Public and community outreach must be at the centre of his early activities as he tries to mend a broken Judiciary.

After all, justice belongs to the people, and justice is the people. Justice is us. The CJ must dance with the people. Chapter one of the Constitution states in Article 1 that “all sovereign power belongs to the people of Kenya”.

That sovereign power is delegated to the three State organs — Parliament, the national Executive and the Judiciary — to exercise on behalf of the people. Judicial outreach, which has never been carried out in Kenya on a sustained basis, will enable the CJ to rebuild and increase public trust and confidence. Judicial outreach will address many problems and issues including those of attitude.

Public attitude — what people think of the courts — matters a lot. Perception of the courts’ work is even more important than the reality.

Corruption in the Judiciary has led to perceptions that justice can be bought.

It is imperative, therefore, for the CJ to find ways of educating the public on court processes and the role of the Judiciary in our society. He must build public trust and confidence in the justice system through partnerships with the public.

Efforts to improve public support for the courts must be based on expanding public knowledge and understanding about the courts’ role and court procedures. Such efforts should include not only educational programmes, but also programmes that improve access to justice and emphasize the values of fairness and equality in law.

Apart from perceptions of corruption, the lack of public understanding about how courts and judges work and why it has resulted in a diminished public esteem for the law, judges and magistrates. However, judicial outreach and communication to the public, more contact and interaction, could reverse the trend.

The CJ should initiate programmes in which members of the Judiciary could interact with community organisations, local schools, and community members to create a dialogue on the justice system. He should facilitate dynamic outreach activities involving judges and magistrates.

The decisions of the courts affect the lives of many people and communities.

The people therefore need and deserve to learn about how the judicial system works, not just from the media but also from the judges. The work of the Judiciary must be demystified. Judges must connect and interact with the public.

The CJ should mount education programmes that help people, including school children, better understand our legal system and the rights and responsibilities of citizenship. The outreach programme must be aimed not only at fostering greater public understanding of our justice system and the role of the courts, but also at involving the courts in addressing community problems.

In his public outreach, the CJ should make the courts more accessible, affordable and user-friendly. He must target activities that help to improve access to justice.

Such activities include not only education efforts to expand public understanding of how the courts work, but also how to access legal aid and pro bono services as well as how to represent oneself in court (without a lawyer).

He could enlist judges and magistrates to take part in such education programmes, including provision of information kiosks at courthouses.

Courts and communities need to collaborate to improve the justice system and public confidence. The CJ must make his public outreach a two-way communication and participation process.

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