Administration of Justice and the Maintenance of Law and Order
| Published date | 01 October 1958 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1002/j.1099-162X.1958.tb01183.x |
| Date | 01 October 1958 |
Administration
of
Justice and
the
Maintenance
of
Law and
Order
SECTIONS
XI-XII
xr.
ADMINISTRATION
OF
JUSTICE
109.
The
presentpositionregarding
the
administration
of
justice to Africans
in
urban
areas in
the
larger territories with which we
are
concerned is as follows:
(i)
KENYA
In
Kenya
the
Urban
African
Courts
have
almost reached the stage of becoming
benches of lay magistrates.
They
consist
of
aPresident, Vice-President,
and
two
or
three
Members, who
are
now
employed by
the
Central
Government
on
permanent
and
pensionable terms.
The
proceedings
are
recorded in English or Swahili (except
in
tax
cases)
and
the rules of
procedure
are
based on
the
Criminal
Procedure
Code.
The
Courts
have
power
to
try
cases
under
aconsiderable
number
of prescribed
sections in the
Penal
Code
and
other
Ordinances
and
a
number
of Municipal by-laws,
as well as the customary law.
Customary
law is only
applied
where no
statutory
law is applicable. Appeals lie to the District Commissioner or District Officer,
from whose
judgment
an application
may
be
made
to the Provincial Commissioner
for a certificate to
appeal
to
the
Court
of Review on
matters
of law only,
and
only
when
the
two lower courts
have
disagreed. Advocates
are
only allowed to
appear
before
the
Court
of Review.
The
Court
Elders
and
Clerks receive instruction in
law
and
procedure
from
the
local District Officer
and
on periodic courses held for
the purpose. Committals to prison must be confirmed by a District Officer,
and
all
criminal cases
are
reviewed by
him
and
the
African Courts Officer every
month.
Criminal
cases
may
be instituted in African Courts by a
Government
Headman
or
the
Police as
Crown
prosecutions, or by individuals as
private
prosecutions.
The
decision
whether
or not a Police case should be referred to an African
Court
rather
than
aMagistrate rests
with
the
Police, who usually only refer cases of a trivial
nature,
or cases which
appear
properly to be
private
prosecutions.
The
African
Courts
perform
avery valuable function
and
the
policy is to increase
their
jurisdiction
over a
wider
field of
statutory
offences as they develop
an
increased knowledge of
law
and
procedure
and
show themselves capable of
carrying
increased responsibilities.
(ii)
UGANDA
In
Uganda
all Africans in the
urban
areas
arc
subject to
the
jurisdiction of
both
the Protectorate Courts
and
of African Courts. Except in Buganda,
appeal
from
the
latter
lies to
the
District African
Court
and
thence to the District Commissioner.
There
is
appeal
to
the
High
Court
from
the
appellate decisions of
the
District
Com-
missioner in cases which originated in the District African
Court.
It
is also possible
for
an
aggrieved
party
to
petition
the
High
Court
to revise
any
case, though such
petitions
may
be
summarily
dismissed.
The
District Commissioner also has full
revisional powers.
In
Buganda
asimilar
pattern
of courts
and
appeals exist.
Under
the
Buganda
agreement of 1955, it is
not
possible to
vary
the
Buganda
Courts
Ordi-
nance, 1940,
without
the concurrence of the
Buganda
Government.
In
criminal
cases
the
maximum
punishment
that
can be inflicted by
the
lower African
Courts
is six
months'
imprisonment with
hard
labour,
and
by the District African
Court
two years' imprisonment
with
hard
labour.
In
Buganda
higher
penalties
may
be
inflicted.
The
courts
are
empowered to administer
Native
Law
and
Custom
and
certain sections of
the
Protectorate Legislation.
In
the
new African
Court
Ordinance
it is provided
that
in arriving
at
their
decisions the
Courts
shall be
guided
by
the
21 9
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