The Judiciary has rolled an out of court annexed mediation process for civil cases as a mechanism of easing access to justice and reducing the backlog of cases in Trans Nzoia County.
A team of Judicial Officers led by High Court Judge Justice Aggrey Muchelule, launched the programme dubbed Court Annexed Mediation in a function held at the Kitale law courts grounds.
Speaking at the launch, Kitale law courts Presiding Judge Luka Kimaru said the programme was backed by Kenya 2010 Constitution which advised alternative dispute resolution mechanisms other than normal court procedures.
Justice Kimaru cited family related disputes including succession, custody of children and land disputes as some of the cases targeted by the new programme.
He urged Trans Nzoia residents to embrace the court annexed mediation, praising the mechanism’s ability to help save time and cost involved.
“In this type of dispute resolution mechanism, a case is first filed at the courts from where it is referred by the courts to a court annexed mediator,” explained Kimaru.
He stated the mediators are fully trained and certified and are expected to resolve disputes of civil nature within a time frame of 60 days with an additional 10 days period in the event some cases are prolonged.
Justice Kimaru emphasized annexed mediation reduces backlog of cases, adding certain cases take unnecessary long period to conclude via normal court procedures yet such can be expedited through mediation.
He disclosed the Judiciary had certified about 900 annexed court mediators, out of which 40 have been deployed to Trans Nzoia County.
By Maurice Aluda
