The Deputy Chief Justice of Kenya is the deputy to the

Chief Justice of Kenya The Chief Justice of Kenya is the head of the Judiciary of Kenya and President of the Supreme Court of Kenya and is an office established under Article 161 of the Kenyan Constitution. The Chief Justice is assisted by the Deputy Chief Justice w ...

and Deputy President of the

Supreme Court of Kenya The Supreme Court of Kenya is the Supreme court, highest court in Kenya. It is established under Article 163 of the constitution of Kenya, Kenyan Constitution. As the highest court in the nation, its decisions are binding and set precedent on all ...

. The office is established under Article 163 of the Kenyan Constitution. The current Deputy Chief Justice is Lady Justice

Philomena Mwilu Philomena Mbete Mwilu (born 15 April 1957) is a Kenyan lawyer and judge, who has served as the assistant Chief Justice of Kenya and Vice President of the Supreme Court of Kenya since 28 October 2016. Following the retirement of Chief Justice Da ...

. The office remained vacant from October 12, 2012 following the resignation of

Nancy Makokha Baraza Dr. Nancy Makokha Baraza (born 1957 in Bungoma District, Western Kenya) is a former Kenyan judge. She was the first Deputy Chief Justice of Kenya and a member of Kenya's first supreme court after the promulgation of the 2010 Constitution. She se ...

Court of Appeal A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of t ...

Judge

Kalpana Rawal Kalpana Hasmukhrai Rawal (born 15 January 1946 in Bhuj, India) is a Kenyan-Asian lawyer and the former Deputy Chief Justice and Vice President of the Supreme Court of Kenya. She was sworn in on June 3, 2013 as the Deputy Chief Justice of Kenya in ...

was nominated by the JSC to fill the position. Judge

was the retired by the

after a case on retirement age was dismissed at the

on 14 June 2016.

Appointment and Tenure of Office

The Deputy Chief Justice is selected by the Judicial Service Commission following an open recruitment process before formal appointment by the President. The candidate nominated for appointment must be vetted and approved by the National Assembly. Just like the Chief Justice and other judges of the Supreme Court, a candidate for the Deputy Chief Justice must possess a minimum of 15 years experience in law. Unlike the Chief Justice who is limited to a maximum of 10 years in office, the Deputy Chief Justice serves until retirement at the age of 70, or when one is removed from office for gross misconduct.

Duties

The mandate of the Deputy Chief Justice is to serve as the deputy head of the Judiciary as well as the Vice President of the Supreme Court of Kenya. The Deputy Chief Justice can perform the administrative and judicial functions of the Chief Justice in the absence of the Chief Justice, such as presiding over the sittings of the Supreme Court and the swearing in of the President of Kenya following an election.

List of Deputy Chief Justices

References

{{Deputy Chief Justices of Kenya Kenyan judges Judiciary of Kenya

Appointment and Tenure of Office

Duties

List of Deputy Chief Justices

See also

References