Changing structure to enhance the delivery of judicial services

What you need to know:

  • The proposed structure will start with six model courts, which will provide a basis of how other courts will work within it.
  • An appropriate number of staff with skill mixes will be deployed. Directorates will be reorganised and appropriately staffed.

We launched last week the ‘Organisational Review Report for the Judiciary’, an instrument that encapsulates the measures to enable effective execution of our mandate for greater efficiency in the delivery of services to the public.
The 2010 Constitution recognises the people of Kenya as the source of judicial power and vests the same in the courts and tribunals. The Constitution lists the values, objectives and principles that should be ingrained in the exercise of judicial power.

PROCESSES
The principles include fairness and equality before the law, efficient administration of justice, embracing alternative forms of dispute resolution, upholding the substance of justice without undue regard to technicalities and processes, and the promotion of the values espoused in the Constitution.

CHALLENGES
In summary, the purpose and goals in the Constitution call upon the Judiciary to refocus and recast our operations and processes to ensure a sustained pursuit of constitutional goals. However, efforts to address the challenges facing the Judiciary are much older than the text of the 2010 Constitution. From the Fleming Commission established in 1960 to reform the judicial service, there have been no less than 13 other committees to look into the question of judicial reform.

DELIVERY
The last was the Task Force on Judicial Reforms that was headed by Justice William Ouko in 2010 to address service delivery problems. The constitutional reforms, which culminated in the adoption of the 2010 Constitution, created an impetus to ensure comprehensive judicial changes.

BLUEPRINT
In 2012, the reforms began with the launch of the Judiciary Transformation Framework (JTF) by then Chief Justice Willy Mutunga. It made landmark achievements in capacity building.
Last year, I launched the ‘Sustaining Judiciary Transformation: A service delivery agenda’, a blueprint for improving the speed and quality of service delivery by increasing efficiency and effectiveness at institutional and individual levels. The organisational review we launched last week, therefore, comes at a time when the Judiciary is focused on accelerated service delivery.

PREPARE
No judicial reform can be realised without a proper institutional framework. To discharge the current mandate of the Judiciary, proper planning is imperative. Otherwise, as American statesman Benjamin Franklin noted famously, “by failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail”.

OPTIMAL
The report presents an approved organisational structure for the Judiciary and Judicial Service Commission, including the courts and directorates. It provides for an optimal staff establishment for courts and directorates, job descriptions and grading. Its recommendations include the restructuring of directorates and court stations for efficient operations, and setting up of new units to manage additional processes not adequately catered for under the current structure. This will result in substantial changes in the institutional arrangements and structures in the Judiciary and the Judicial Service Commission. There will be no job losses, only re-adjustments to ensure optimal allocation of the human resource outlay.

APPROPRIATE
The proposed structure will start with six model courts, which will provide a basis of how other courts will work within it. An appropriate number of staff with skill mixes will be deployed. Directorates will be reorganised and appropriately staffed.
This will involve setting up and training implementation teams and change agents, developing and rolling out a communication strategy, conducting change awareness sessions for judicial officers and staff, and carrying out a comprehensive human resource skills audit. It will also involve training staff in customer service, setting up model courts and supporting the implementation of new structures.
Mr Maraga is the Chief Justice and President of the Supreme Court of [email protected]