New law to see private varsities join legal council

Private universities will, for the first time, be represented in the critical Council of Legal Education Board after President Uhuru Kenyatta endorsed amendments to the Legal Education Act, 2012.

The amendment that forms part of 36 new laws is likely to see more institutions offer legal related courses since representation between public and private universities at the board will be on a 50-50 basis.

The amendments are contained in a Special Gazette issue dated November 24.

The new law will benefit the private universities since the field has largely been dominated by the University of Nairobi and Moi University. Private universities will also have a greater say in curriculum development.

According to the new requirements, the number of the Law Society of Kenya representatives in the board will now be two instead of the initial four.

The term of the CEO of the board has also been reduced from four to three years.

The board is chaired by lawyer Fred Ojiambo. It is unclear whether the President will renew his tenure or terminate it. The President will now have the powers to appoint the chairman to serve in the board, formerly a function of the Attorney-General.

The changes are part of the Miscellaneous Amendments of the Statute Law 2014 signed into law by President Kenyatta.

This means that private institutions that were eager to offer courses related to law have a representative to present their petitions.

The board’s mandate is to regulate the provision of legal education and training in Kenya and equate and recognise foreign legal qualifications through enforcement of rules and set standards to assure quality.