Members of the public have been asked to consider embracing the Alternative Justice System (AJS) as part of disputes resolution mechanism.
Eldoret Chief Magistrate Dennis Mikoyan says they have been encouraging use of AJS as one way they hope will help address backlog of cases at the courts.
Speaking at the Eldoret Law Courts during a tree planting exercise on November 4, 2022, Mikoyan said there are many cases that had taken long in courts which could have been solved through AJS.
He named succession and family disputes as some of cases that are contributing to backlog of cases at Eldoret courts.
“At the Chief magistrates court, we have cumulatively 27,900 cases shared among 10 magistrates. Automatically those matters are likely to delay,” Mikoyan said
According to the Eldoret Chief Magistrate, a matter should ordinarily be dispensed off within a year but they can take up to two years to be resolved.
Unlock cases
“We have cases that are quite old especially on family division like succession and family disputes. We’ve being asking locals to embrace alternative justice system to help unlock such cases,” he noted.
Alternative Justice System (AJS) is one of the disputes resolution mechanism legally recognized in the country.
Under this system, the court usually selects a mediator who will be in charge of handling the case and bringing together the warring parties.
Once they agree on solving the dispute out of court, the mediator submits the agreement report to the court after which it is legalized.
AJS however only handles civil matters, with criminal matters remaining a reserve of the courts to hear and determine the cases.
“We have realized that people agree better when outside the court,” noted the Eldoret Chief Magistrate.
He also revealed that they will soon be launching the alternative justice system model for Uasin Gishu which the courts hope will help fastrack the thousands of cases at the court.
