Court Annexed Mediation as a Tool for Access to Justice for Children in Kenya a Case Study of Milimani Children’s Court

Abstract

Access to Justice in Kenya’s courts has been epitomised by delays in delivery of judgments occasioned by backlog of cases. The Constitution of Kenya (2010) propagated the use of Mechanism for alternative dispute resolution as an alternative to court proceedings in pursuit of justice. One of these Mechanism for alternative dispute resolutions is mediation which the Judiciary has innovated to Court Annexed Mediation (CAM). The primary objective of CAM is to facilitate speedy resolution of disputes targeting conclusion of cases within an average of 66 days. Court Annexed Mediation mechanism was initially piloted at the Family and Commercial divisions of the High Court. CAM has subsequently been rolled out to other courts including magistrates’ courts. This study appraised the concept of CAM as a tool for promoting Access to Justice. It demystified the concept of mediation as mechanism for enhanced Access to Justice. It analyses the sufficiency of the legal, policy and institutional framework in place to operationalize CAM in Kenya. As a case study, the researcher appraises the Children’s Court at Milimani Law Courts which is one of the courts implementing CAM with the aim of establishing whether it has enhanced Access to Justice. The study finally makes conclusions on the implementation of the CAM so far. It then makes recommendations on enhancing effectiveness of CAM as a tool for promoting Access to Justice in the future.