Pending a threshold ruling on its own jurisdiction, the High Court has issued conservatory orders prohibiting the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) from executing any actions that disrupt or impede proceedings before judges and judicial officers.
Delivering the ruling, Justice David Mburu emphasized that the interim directives were necessary to restore calm within the Judiciary and guarantee uninterrupted access to justice while the case proceeds. The court barred LSK from taking any further action that could paralyze judicial functions across the country until the jurisdictional challenge is formally heard and determined.
The legal battle stems from a petition filed by advocate Adrima Kamotho, who argued that the boycott undermines judicial independence, threatens access to justice, and risks causing severe case backlogs for thousands of litigants nationwide. Supporting the petition, advocates Danstan Omari and Peter Wanyama representing the affected judges criticized the LSK’s directive instructing lawyers to boycott specific judicial officers.
Counsel representing the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) further informed the court that judges and magistrates have been operating under an atmosphere of fear, noting that disruptions had already impacted several stations, including the Supreme Court and Murang’a law courts.
The ongoing standoff between the bar association and the bench arose after LSK announced a boycott targeting Chief Justice Martha Koome, Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu, and several other judicial officers over concerns regarding judicial administration. While the High Court initially declined to halt the strike to allow dialogue between JSC and LSK leadership, Justice Mburu ultimately intervened to safeguard court operations after talks failed to yield an immediate resolution.
LSK, however, maintains that operations have largely continued and opposes attempts to end the boycott before the substantive petition is fully argued.
Closely watched by legal professionals and court users, this high-stakes dispute raises fundamental questions surrounding the relationship between the Bench and the Bar, judicial accountability, and the limits of advocate-led professional protests within Kenya’s administration of justice.
