Justice Under Siege: The Rule of Law and Judicial Subservience in Kenya

Authors

Makau wa Mutua, University at Buffalo School of LawFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2001

Rights

Abstract

The piece examines the tortured history of the judiciary in Kenya and concludes that various governments have deliberately robbed judges of judicial independence. As such, the judiciary has become part and parcel of the culture of impunity and corruption. This was particularly under the one party state, although nothing really changed with the introduction of a more open political system. The article argues that judicial subservience is one of the major reasons that state despotism continues to go unchallenged. It concludes by underlining the critical role that the judiciary has to play in a democratic polity.

DOI

10.1353/hrq.2001.0010

Publication Title

Human Rights Quarterly

First Page

96

Last Page

118

Comments

Copyright © 2001 The Johns Hopkins University Press. This article was first published in Human Rights Quarterly 23.1 (2001), 96–118. Reprinted with permission by Johns Hopkins University Press.

Required Text

Copyright © 2001 The Johns Hopkins University Press. This article was first published in Human Rights Quarterly 23.1 (2001), 96–118. Reprinted with permission by Johns Hopkins University Press.

Recommended Citation

Makau w. Mutua, Justice Under Siege: The Rule of Law and Judicial Subservience in Kenya, 23 Hum. Rts. Q. 96 (2001).
Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.buffalo.edu/journal_articles/569