Procedures
The Civil Procedure Act with constitutionalised access to justice
Civil procedure follows the Civil Procedure Act and its Rules, English-derived and reformed in 2010. Article 159 of the constitution requires courts to administer justice without undue regard to procedural technicality and to promote alternative dispute resolution.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — Magistrates' courts, the High Court and its specialised divisions, the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court; the EACJ hears Treaty questions.
- Deadline — Appeal to the Court of Appeal: 30 days from the decree
- Deadline — Limitation: six years for contract, three years for tort under the Limitation of Actions Act
- Deadline — Defence: 14 days after service of summons
Governing law
- Civil Procedure Act (Cap 21) and the Civil Procedure Rules, 2010
- Constitution of Kenya, 2010, article 159 — procedural technicality and ADR
- Arbitration Act, 1995No. 4 of 1995
In practice
Article 159(2)(d) — that justice shall be administered without undue regard to procedural technicalities — has become one of the most cited provisions in Kenyan litigation, used to save pleadings and appeals that would previously have failed on form. It sits in tension with the 2010 Rules' case-management timetables, and reconciling the two is a recurring appellate theme.