Effect of COVID-19 Pandemic on Resolution of Cases in Courts : The Kenyan Judiciary

The Constitution of Kenya and the Judiciary Strategic Plan (2019-2023) identifies improved access to, and expeditious delivery of justice as key result areas for the Judiciary, a public institution that is the custodian of justice and pivotal for socio-economic wellbeing of the society. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in Kenya, diverse interventions were instituted both at the Judiciary headquarters and at court level. The aim of the interventions was twofold. First was to control the spread of the disease through courts and second was to ensure continuity in service delivery. Despite the constitutional dictate, institutional aspiration, and interventions that were undertaken, the resolution of cases in courts, one of the indicator of access to justice, reduced during the pandemic period. Specifically, the number of cases that were resolved in all courts reduced from 469,359 in the financial year 2018/19 to 289,728 cases in 2019/20 when COVID-19 disease was first reported in Kenya. Could this reduction be attributed to the pandemic or to some other underlying factors, and by what magnitude if at all?. Were the instituted measures able to impact on resolution of cases?. To answer these questions, the study first sought to establish the measures that were undertaken by Judiciary. This entailed a review of interventions that were undertaken at Judiciary headquarters through the use of circulars, notices and guidelines that were issued from time to time, as well as collection and analysis of primary data from Heads of Stations and Deputy Registrars of courts on measures that were carried out at court level. Secondly, the study sought to determine the effect of COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent measures on resolution of cases in courts. This was realized through the use of two-step system Generalized Method of Moment’s regression that employed secondary panel data. The findings were that the courts had undertaken numerous measures to control the spread of the pandemic to ensure continuity of service delivery amidst the pandemic. Further, COVID-19 pandemic had adversely affected resolution of cases in courts despite the numerous measures that were instituted. Drawing from these findings, diverse policy actions and recommendations have been proposed with an aim of enhancing resolution of cases in courts during the pandemic period and beyond