Court to rule on Supreme Court vacancies Monday

The High Court sitting in Nairobi will on Monday next week make a ruling on a petition challenging the recruitment of Chief Justice, Deputy Chief Justice and Judge of the Supreme Court.

This comes after the High Court sitting in Mombasa completed hearing submissions by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) and lawyers who want the process stopped on the grounds that the procedure is flawed.

Through lawyer Elisha Ongoya, the petitioner argues that the entire process violates the Constitution and, therefore, must be stopped and started afresh.

However, JSC lawyers led by Ochieng Odoul, argued that the commission followed the due process or right procedure in advertising and short listing applicants and wants the court to throw out the petition.

The petition was heard by Justice George Odunga of Mombasa High Court and a ruling is expected Monday in Nairobi.

The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has since maintained that said it did not overlook any law in the commencement of a recruitment process for the Chief Justice, Deputy Chief Justice and Supreme Court judge.

The commission said that the shortlisting process was above par and in line with the JSC Act.

In mid July, JSC announced that it would conduct the interviews for the positions of the Chief Justice, Deputy Chief Justice and Judge of the Supreme Court from August 29^th to October 7^th, 2016.

The interviews will see a total of 37 candidates interviewed for the three positions.

The post of the Chief Justice fell vacant following the exit of Dr. Willy Mutunga, who opted for an early retirement while those of the Deputy Chief Justice and the Judge of the Supreme Court of Kenya fell vacant following the retirement of their respective holders; Kalpana Rawal and Philip Tunoi.