The Justice and Legal Affairs Committee Chaired by Hon. George Gitonga Murugara (Tharaka) held public hearings with different stakeholders to consider the Statute Law (Miscellaneous) (Amendment) Bill, 2022. The Bill seeks to amend various provisions of the Statute Law including those in 18 Statuses under the purview of the Committee.

The Bill seeks to among others; amend the Judicature Act (Cap 8) by increasing the maximum number of Judges that may be appointed to the Court of Appeal from the current 30 judges to 70 Judges.

It also seeks to amend section 40 of the Sexual Offences Act (2006) to align the provisions with Article 157 of the Constitution which grants powers of criminal prosecutions to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

Further, it proposes that Section 38 of the Judicial Service Commission Act (2011) be amended to provide that the JSC submits its Annual Reports to the National Assembly within six months after the end of the year to which the Report relate.

Similar amendments have been proposed for the Acts governing the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) and Kenya National Commission for Human Rights. These bodies too will be required to submit their Annual Reports within six months after the end of the year to which the Report is related. 

A proposal to amend Section 27 (2) of the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission Act (2011) to increase the period within which the EACC should submit its Annual Report to the President by 3 months was also presented to the Committee. 

The committee will consider these submissions and prepare a Report which will be tabled in the House for debate.