High Costs In An Election Petition Are An Impediment To The Right of Access To Justice

HIGH COSTS (IN ELECTION PETITIONS) ARE AN IMPEDIMENT TO THE RIGHT OF ACCESS TO JUSTICE

“In our understanding, the capping of costs provided under Rule 30 of the Petition Rules 2017 was to ensure that parties approach courts without fear of being subjected to excessive costs. Despite this rule, the current trend in the capping of costs at inordinately high amounts shows that we are going back to the era where costs in election petitions were very high. Capping of costs was intended to curb the practice of awarding large sums in costs. High costs are an impediment to the right of access to justice and are not meant to be punitive.”

Court of Appeal at Nairobi (Warsame, Musinga & Ouko, JJA) in Election Petition Appeal No. 1 of 2017 (Nyeri) between Hon. Martha Wangari KARUA and IEBC & 3 Others (being an appeal from the whole of the ruling and order of the High Court of Kenya at Kerugoya (L.W. Gitari, J.) dated 15th November 2017 in Election Petition No. 2 of 2017.