Using Laws.Africa’s technology to bolster Kenya’s legal framework
Kenya’s legal system faced a critical challenge due to the lack of revision of legislation that had not been comprehensively revised since 1995. This gap hindered the administration of justice, as judges, lawyers, and the general public lacked access to revised laws.
During the launch of the Twenty-fourth Annual Supplement to the Laws of Kenya in April 2024, the President of the Republic of Kenya, His Excellency Dr William S. Ruto emphasised the importance of Kenya’s laws, stating,
“The laws of Kenya are a foundation of governance and the expression of our constitutionality and national values including justice, equality, and accountability which define our democratic dispensation. It is imperative, therefore, that our laws reflect our nation’s dynamism.”
The impact of the absence of revised laws was profound, leading to inconsistencies in legal decisions, complications in case reporting, and a general lack of legal awareness. This situation underscored the urgent need for a comprehensive revision of Kenya’s legal framework to ensure constitutional alignment and proper administration of justice.
Addressing Kenya’s need for a consolidated revision of the law
To address this critical issue of the availability of revised laws, the Attorney General of Kenya mandated the National Council for Law Reporting (Kenya Law) to prepare and publish an Annual Supplement, a compilation of the revised version of Kenya’s laws. However, given the technical complexity and sheer volume of this task, it was clear that the use of advanced technology and digitisation were necessary. Recognising the need for specialised expertise, Kenya Law turned to Laws.Africa for assistance.
Kenya Law, with the technical expertise of Laws.Africa, embarked on a project to digitise and consolidate all the revisions of Kenya’s laws, updating them from 1995 to the present. This initiative culminated in 2024 in the launch of the Twenty-fourth Annual Supplement to the Laws of Kenya, a transformative milestone in the nation’s legal landscape.
The Chief Justice and President of the Supreme Court of Kenya; Lady Justice Martha Karambu Koome outlines how this publication addressed constitutional conflicts arising from lack of revised legislation that were hindering the administration of justice in Kenya,
“The revision of the laws of Kenya was last officially undertaken in 1995 when we launched the Twenty-third Annual Supplement. Since then, no comprehensive consolidation of the statute book has been undertaken, although a number of Acts were constantly enacted or amended or repealed by Parliament over this period and the prevailing state of affairs certainly has hampered the administration and dispensation of justice in the country for a long time.”
Challenges faced by Kenya Law
Before partnering with Laws.Africa, the Kenya Law team encountered significant challenges in their efforts to update and consolidate the nation’s legal framework. The use of Akoma Ntoso XML, an international technical standard for representing executive, legislative, and judiciary documents in a structured manner using a domain-specific, legal vocabulary, posed several difficulties.
The Kenya Law team had to edit raw XML tags, which was a time-consuming and error-prone process. They struggled to update laws promptly; if a law was gazetted today, updating it on the same day was nearly impossible, creating a backlog that was hard to manage. The process of paginating laws one page at a time also significantly slowed down their work. Moreover, the technical skills required to manage the XML tags and the overall process were insufficient within the team, making it difficult to maintain an up-to-date legal repository.
“We struggled on how to go about the updates due to the technical challenges presented by the systems in place. If a law was gazetted today, and I wanted to have it updated today, I just couldn’t. The update process was too labour intensive; if you missed one day, you could never catch up,” explained Wambui Kamau, Senior Law Reporter and Team Leader of the Laws of Kenya Department at Kenya Law.
Technological innovation through Laws.Africa
The collaboration between Laws.Africa and Kenya Law, which began in March 2019, fostered a strong partnership and iterative development process. This partnership was characterised by great synergy and mutual understanding, essential for the project’s success.
Laws.Africa, through their Indigo Legislation Studio, provided a robust solution to Kenya Law’s problem. Indigo Legislation Studio is a legislation digitisation platform that simplifies the maintenance, updating, and publishing of legislation collections for various formats. It converts legislation into structured legal data, enabling automation and reducing the manual workload on editorial teams. The platform supports high-quality print formatting and ensures consistent formatting across all outputs. It also facilitates easy tracking of tasks, collaboration, and approvals necessary for a large project like an annual supplement.
Wambui Kamau expressed the significance of this partnership: “The match was made at the right time. Laws.Africa was finally an organisation that could understand exactly what we needed. The relationship started off so well and has grown from strength to strength. Their ability to understand our needs and address our pain points was amazing. For this Twenty-fourth Annual Supplement, if we did not have the Laws.Africa team, it would have been completely impossible to complete the project. Their expertise is amazing, and they brought these skills on board. They are still helping us with the technical aspect of presentation of legislation on the web so as to produce future supplements and enhance the user experience, and we plan to enter into a formal agreement with them for future projects. We could never have done this project without Laws.Africa.”
Over three years of concerted efforts, the teams worked together to ensure the successful launch of the Twenty-fourth Annual Supplement.
Greg Kempe, Head of Technology and Co-Founder at Laws.Africa, highlighted the positive relationship with Kenya Law and the impact of their collaborative efforts:
“It has been superb to work with the team at Kenya Law on this project. Their dedication and vision have aligned perfectly with the capabilities of the technology we’ve been developing at Laws.Africa. Our mission is to unlock the value of African digital legal information in support of the rule of law, access to justice, and innovation. Collaborating with Kenya Law has allowed us to put this mission into action, demonstrating the transformative potential of our Indigo Legislation Studio platform. Together, we have made significant strides in ensuring that Kenya’s legal framework is both current and accessible, fostering greater transparency and justice.”
A transformative legal resource
The collaboration between Kenya Law and Laws.Africa, facilitated by Indigo Legislation Studio, has been transformative for Kenya’s legal system. The Twenty-fourth Annual Supplement to the Laws of Kenya was successfully launched at the beginning of 2024, providing a comprehensive and up-to-date legal framework. Digitising the laws made them universally accessible, promoting transparency, accountability, and inclusivity. The digital format included user-friendly features for individuals with visual impairments and addressed language barriers, enhancing universal accessibility. The project also supported the government’s digitisation agenda.
Speaking to the success of the project, Wambui notes; “The partnership with Laws.Africa ensured that the national law is now available on multiple platforms, including the Kenya Law website, government printers, and the eCitizen platform, making legal documents widely accessible at minimal cost. Going forward, future updates to the Annual Supplement will be so much easier because the law is being kept current on the system throughout the year. Additionally, because the Indigo Legislation Studio aligns with the printer requirements, we will be able to print so much easier.”
The successful completion of the Twenty-fourth Annual Supplement has improved the administration of justice by providing current laws, fostering legal awareness, and enhancing the overall legal system in Kenya. This partnership has proven invaluable, providing Kenya with the necessary tools and expertise to maintain a current and accessible legal framework, ensuring that justice is served efficiently and equitably.
President of the Republic of Kenya, His Excellency Dr William S. Ruto further underscored the importance of the Twenty-fourth Annual Supplement during its launch, stating, “This launch is our golden opportunity to recommit ourselves to maintaining a legal system that serves as a bastion of democracy and justice and to devote our efforts to delivering an uncompromising high standard of compliance with the rule of law by all of us.” His words encapsulate the pivotal role of this initiative in upholding the principles of democracy and justice within the nation.
The Chief Justice and President of the Supreme Court of Kenya; Lady Justice Martha Karambu Koome added, “The online publication of judicial decisions and the laws of Kenya has facilitated access to justice in the administration of justice. Kenya law’s digitisation journey dates back from its inception in 1994 and I’m proud to say that it is through technology that the finalisation of this Twenty-fourth Annual Supplement has been made possible.”
