Thursday, October 31, 2024 - The Law Society of Kenya has slammed the Supreme Court on its ruling that overturned the decision of the Court of Appeal to declare the Finance Act 2023 unconstitutional.
In a statement, LSK President Faith Odhiambo
maintained that the decision of the Supreme Court to rule that the Finance Act
2023 was not what her society had expected from the most powerful court in
Kenya.
However, Odhiambo expressed that
they respected the outcome from the court especially on the need for the
executive and legislative arms of government to conduct proper public
participation in their policy decisions.
''We respectfully disagree with the approach
taken by the court.”
“Expeditiousness of the legislative process
cannot be said to override legitimate expectation and public interest, nor can
Parliament be exempt from the need to rationalise their decision under the
guise of the legislative process not constituting an administrative action,’’
Odhiambo stated.
''Nevertheless, we welcome the Court's
recommendation for the enactment of the statute to guide public
participation."
According to the LSK boss, the courts had a role
to play in drafting public participation frameworks to address the recent spike
in the number of cases that have been rendered negative judgments for lack of
public participation.
''We, however, hope that should the Court be
invited to make future considerations on the subject of public participation,
they will provide a more elaborate and purposive guidance on the modalities,
scope, and extent of Public Participation,’’ Odhiambo implored.
Odhiambo’s comments come after the
Supreme Court gave the government the green light to continue the
implementation of the Finance Act 2023, just a few days after the High Court
okayed the housing levy deductions.
The Kenyan DAILY POST
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