Chief Justice of Kenya

The Chief Justice of Kenya is the head of the Judiciary of Kenya and President of the Supreme Court of Kenya and is an office established under Article 161 of the Kenyan Constitution. He or she is assisted by the Deputy Chief Justice who is also the Deputy President of the Supreme Court.

The current Chief Justice is David Maraga.

Before the enactment of the Constitution of Kenya 2010, the President appointed the Chief Justice without any interview process or parliamentary approval. The Chief Justice did not enjoy security of tenure, and could be dismissed at the pleasure of the President.

Under the new Constitution, the Chief Justice is formally appointed by the President but is selected by the Judicial Service Commission following a competitive process involving a vacancy announcement, shortlisting of applicants and interviews. In order to be appointed as the Chief Justice, a person must have at least fifteen years experience as a legal practitioner. At the end of the interviews, the Judicial Service Commission selects one individual whose name is forwarded to Parliament for vetting and approval. If Parliament gives the candidate the green light, he is then formally appointed by the President.

In order to give the President more leeway in appointing the Chief Justice, the ruling Jubilee Coalition pushed through an amendment which required the Judicial Service Commission to provide three qualified individuals from which the President would appoint one as the Chief Justice. However, the constitutional court declared the amendment unconstitutional, and the President will only receive one name from the Judicial Service Commission.

Like all Judges, the Chief Justice serves until he reaches 70 years, with an option for early retirement one he reaches 65. No matter his age, an individual may not serve for more than ten years as Chief Justice. As such, an individual who serves for ten years as Chief Justice must retire from the office of the Chief Justice even if he is not yet 70, but may opt to stay on the Supreme Court as an Associate Justice until he reaches 70.

The Chief Justice may be removed from office if a Tribunal appointed to inquire into his conduct finds that he should not remain in office.

In the event of a vacancy in the office of the Chief Justice, the Deputy Chief Justice performs the role in an acting capacity until a new Chief Justice is named. Where the Deputy Chief Justice position is also vacant, the senior-most Associate Justice of the Supreme Court will act as the President of the Supreme Court until a Chief Justice is named. An example of this occurred in 2016, when the senior Associate Justice Mohamed Ibrahim acted as the President of the Supreme Court following the early retirement of Chief Justice Willy Mutunga who turned 69 in June 2016, and the retirement of Deputy Chief Justice Kalpana Rawal who turned 70 in January 2016.

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