Managing Court Records in Kenya

Abstract

This paper presents the results of an empirical and theoretical literature review to understand the challenges associated with managing court records in the Kenyan Judiciary. Three research questions are addressed: What records management challenges are facing the Kenyan Judiciary? What capacity building plans are in place to ameliorate court records management challenges? What lessons can the Kenyan Judiciary learn from international court records management best practices? The research questions are underpinned by Records Continuum Model. Results show that records management in the Kenyan Judiciary faces several challenges such as backlogs of cases; lost, misfiled or damaged files; delays in registering cases; locating records and filing documentation; the lack of records management policies; inadequate staff capacity, limited awareness about the value of sound records management; limited use of ICT and inadequate budgets. As a result, decisions are made without full information about cases. Besides, the absence of systematic record keeping and controls leaves scope for corruption and collusion between court officials and lawyers. The ISO 15489-1 is presented as the key best practice mechanism for enhancing sound records management that the Kenyan judiciary may espouse. The subject matter of this paper is aimed at influencing policy and practice, especially with regard to provision of the appropriate competencies and skills needed for sound management of court records to enhance accountability, transparency and service delivery.

Keywords: Records Management, Court Records, Judicial Records, Kenya, Judiciary, Accountability, Transparency, Open Governance