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Justice Needs and Satisfaction in Kenya 2017 Legal Problems in Daily Life 3 Justice Needs and Satisfaction in Kenya 2017 Legal problems in daily life 3 Table of contents Executive Summary ....................................................................................................4 This research was supported by the World Introduction to Justice Needs & Satisfaction Study in Kenya ......................................9 Bank and the Judiciary of Kenya. We are Legal Problems in Kenya ...........................................................................................24 grateful to the staff of the Judiciary for Legal Information and Advice ..................................................................................44 their support and advice. Dispute Resolution .................................................................................................. 60 Trust in Legal Institutions and Legal Empowerment ...................................................82 Land Problems .........................................................................................................98 Family Justice ........................................................................................................ 122 The Justice Journeys of People from Low-income Households ................................. 144 The Voices of the Justice Leaders in Kenya ............................................................. 162 Conclusions & Recommendations ...........................................................................180 Disclaimer This report is a living document and subject to revision. Whenever the report is revised it will be posted at www.hiil.org/publications/data-reports. This version of the report was generated on March 14, 2018. 4 JUSTICE NEEDS IN KENYA - 2017 5 Executive summary In cooperation with the Kenyan judiciary, In order to construct a complete picture of situation in which an accessible, affordable in different ways. They encounter in 2017, HiiL Innovating Justice conducted justice in Kenya, we enhanced the survey and fair justice process is needed. Crime, different types of legal problems. Land a nationwide Justice Needs and data with a series of qualitative interviews land problems, family-related disputes, problems predominantly occur among Satisfaction survey in Kenya. The main with key leaders from the Kenyan employment problems and disagreements poor and rural communities. Young objective of this study is to map out the Judiciary. The information from justice over money are the most frequently Kenyans face a disproportionate rate of demand and supply of justice services leaders and justice providers helps us to occurring legal problems in the everyday crime victimization compared to other as the Kenyan people experience them. better understand people’s voices about lives of Kenyan people. age groups. Lower income and poorly Using a bottom-up approach, we asked justice. They provide a valuable and sincere educated people more often report more The analysis shows that the volume and 6005 randomly selected individuals across account of the institutional framework of than one problem: experiencing a legal sophistication of the needs for justice in Kenya whether they had experienced a justice in Kenya. need increases the risk of encountering Kenya will continue to grow. Several legal, legal problem and what they did about another one. This report pursues the following specific social and economic factors contribute to it. Most importantly, we asked the people objectives: that trend: The consequences of unresolved legal to evaluate the costs and quality of their problems: Legal problems which are not justice journeys. The users of justice told Enhance the understanding of the The Constitution of 2010 widens • • resolved in a fair manner have profound us that 63% of Kenyans had encountered justice needs of the Kenyan people significantly the scope of the effects on the people involved. We one or more legal problems in the past fundamental, social and economic Highlight bright spots of the justice observe that violence is a prevalent issue four years. To resolve these problems, the • rights; system and establish focus among many of the respondents. The data people of Kenya use various formal and areas that exhibit capacity for Growing middle-class and urban shows that between 1.3 and 1.6 million informal justice mechanisms. • innovation populations will encounter more and Kenyans had to deal with violent crime or different legal problems; To better understand access to justice • Provide an agenda for justice domestic violence during the past four from the bottom up, we follow the entire innovation that builds on the needs of • Kenya is witnessing rapid economic and years. Equally concerning is the fact that justice journey, from the moment the users of justice processes technological change which affects more than half of the respondents report legal problem appears, to the moment it people’s relationship with the law; to have experienced extreme stress and has been resolved or abandoned. People mental health problems due to their legal shared a lot about their needs for the rule Needs for Justice in Kenya: • Kenyan people are increasingly more problems. of law and justice, including the specifics aware of their rights and entitlements; Pervasive and Ever Growing The quest for accessible and high quality of the legal problems that they encounter, The legal framework becomes an ever justice journeys: There is a significant the dispute resolution mechanisms they Bottom of the pyramid: Based on the data, • more complicated and pervasive part of and growing demand for justice in Kenya. use, their perceptions about the quality of we estimate that between 17.2 and 17.9 daily life. People need accessible, affordable, quick the justice procedures, and the quality of million Kenyan citizens have experienced and fair justice journeys. Both users and the outcomes and the costs of accessing one or more legal problems in the past One size does not fit all: People of stakeholders recognize the rising demand justice. four years. Almost two out of three adult different genders and from different Kenyans (63%) have encountered a socio-economic groups need justice for high quality justice journeys. 6 JUSTICE NEEDS IN KENYA - 2017 7 Neutral, inclusive and respectful justice Formalistic and difficult to understand non-monetary damages. Users of justice The way forward processes: The people of Kenya actively procedures pose significant challenge also want to see that outcomes of justice Based on the gathered data about how respond to the legal problems they face. for the people who navigate them. processes improve the relationships the users of justice and justice leaders Most of the people who experience legal Poor and uneducated users of justice between the disputants. view justice in Kenya we formulate problems (81%) take active steps to are particularly impeded by that. Three Accessible justice: The Justice Needs a set of five strategic and action resolve them. Besides self-help strategies, quarters of the users of justice in Kenya and Satisfaction study brings forward recommendations: institutional providers of dispute seek legal information and advice. a mixed picture of the affordability and resolution, such as courts, the police and However, relatively few can afford the accessibility of justice in Kenya. The chiefs are rated as being most helpful services of lawyers to help them navigate users of justice link costs with level of on the justice journeys. While courts their justice journeys. Low-income people tionalization of the justice processes. Picture the whole justice journey: and the police are more popular among benefit significantly less than their Formal adjudication is perceived as costly organize justice delivery around respondents who are highly educated, wealthier counterparts from advice and in terms of money and time. People the particular needs of the wealthy or live in urban areas, chiefs are representation from qualified lawyers. share that they spend a considerable Kenyan people particularly helpful for the poor and rural Fair outcomes: Fair justice processes amount of time and money traveling to population. should deliver fair outcomes. The people the proceedings organised by formal Another bright spot of justice in Kenya is of Kenya want dispute resolution stakeholders. Informal proceedings are Strengthen the links between that many people pro-actively reach out processes which resolve their problems, less costly. formal and informal justice: to the other party in the dispute. This is restore relationships and damages design seamless justice journeys There is one dimension of people’s a solid basis for the design of innovative and ensure that the problem will not experiences with justice which deserves justice processes. reoccur. A relatively strong point of the focused attention. Most people experience justice journeys in Kenya is that the Place special attention on By and large, the users of justice in Kenya their justice journeys as stressful. This is a users are positive about the resolution the most vulnerable: provide assess the justice processes slightly higher significant barrier to access justice. Many of the problem. The outcomes of the affordable and accessible justice than the middle of the measurement reasons can contribute to this negative justice journeys involving formal justice journeys for all scale of costs and quality of justice. On image. First, the uncertain duration of the institutions are experienced as more the one hand, this reveals
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