Legal Aid Center to enhance access to justice in Kisumu
June 10, 2022
Legal Aid Center to enhance access to justice
in Kisumu
The newly established legal Aid Center in Kisumu is set to enhance
justice to those seeking it freely.
The center that has been officially launched at the precinct
of the Kisumu High Court will serve members of the public who seek free legal
services on various issues they will be having.
Addressing the press after its official opening in Kisumu,
Kisumu High Court Presiding Judge Hon. Justice Fred Ochieng said this is a very
noble idea that will be of real help to members of the public who seek free
legal services.
Ochieng has praised the partnership between the judiciary,
Civil Societies network, the United Nations Development Programme{UNDP} and the
European Union in coming up with the initiative.
“There are a time when people feel like they come to court
to test us and bring cases to us because they are in disputes. Such people are
helped to come to court but reality shows that the bulk of disputes don’t need
to get to court,” Justice Ochieng says.
Ochieng says the center will be able to handle issues like
mediation between two or more parties in a dispute if they agree to be mediated
upon.
He adds that the center will also handle issue of succession
which might be brought before it by members of the public who might be having
such matters to be handled.
“You will also be told here that if you have matters such as
succession. This is really within families where you can go through mediation or
an alternative justice system way where in your own community you have the
elders from that place, Church people among others whom you will find very
reliable in helping people come back together,” Ochieng adds.
The United Nations Development Programme {UNDP} Team Leader
on Governance and inclusive Growth Dan Juma says they are implementing a
program on legal empowerment and aid delivery in Kenya with an aim of working
together with various stakeholders to enhance access to justice.
He says the center which has been established within the
Kisumu High Court will help those who seek legal services and cannot afford to
pay lawyers to get such services freely.
He says over 80 percent of Kenyans can be able to access
justice through such kind of mechanisms including referrals not just the courts
but also the alternative justice system.
Civil Societies Organizations {CSO} Network Team Leaders
Betty Okero says the center has been established to ensure that anyone who
needs legal services irrespective of economic status will be able to access
such services.
“The beauty of this center is that we will be able to apply
an informal process as well. Mediation, negotiations and alternative dispute
resolutions mechanisms that makes it easier, more efficient and faster,” Okero
says
She says the Center will ensure that no citizen of Kenya is
unable to get any form of justice they want.
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