Chief Justice David Maraga has revealed that gaping holes still exist in the criminal justice system. During the launch of the Criminal Justice Committee at the Supreme Court, CJ Maraga said the findings from an audit of the Criminal Justice System were a huge indictment. He said all actors in the justice chain, including the judiciary, police, prosecutors, the prisons department and children department have a lot of systemic, structural and urgent challenges that require urgent attention.
CJ Maraga said according to the findings, the existing legal framework is not sensitive to the needs of the youth, “That is why they find themselves in conflict with the law when they need to socialize ad earn a living,” he said. He added that as a result, a big percentage of detainees in prisons are between the ages of 18 and 35. He further revealed that the number of poor people who are arrested, charged and sent to prison is alarmingly disproportional to that of the well to do, “Many of poor Kenyans are in trouble for fairly minor offences such as a lack of business licenses, being drunk and disorderly and creating disturbances,” said CJ Maraga. On the other hand , their is a disturbingly low rate of successful prosecution of serious offences such as organized crime and capital offences which have the highest rate of acquittals and withdrawals, and the Chief Justice said it’s evident justice is being compromised.
Moreover, the conditions of detention were found to be inappropriate for special interest groups such as persons living with disabilities and expectant mothers, and more children are being remanded in prisons instead of children remand homes, “The cases also take a long period to resolve than what is allowed by the law,” said CJ Maraga.