CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2022
| Author | Omondi, Denin |
|---|---|
| Title | Independence versus Accountability: A Case study of the Judiciary in Kenya with a Comparative Analysis of India and Colombia |
| Summary | Democracies around the world are built on the doctrine of separation of powers where constitutions envisage each arm of the government being independent of the others. The Constitution of Kenya 2010 created a robust judiciary that has been at the forefront defending the new constitutional order. Over time, there has been an increase of constitutional and human rights matters thus earning the judiciary in Kenya a unlikely enemy, the executive. While studying this relationship and that of the Judiciary and Legislature, this paper will seek to find loopholes in the nature of their relationship while comparing with the Supreme Court of India and the Constitutional Court of Colombia in a bid to seal such loopholes and prevent the growing phenomenon of Judicial Overreach. In this paper, it is established that the judiciaries of the three comparators all function as independent institutions. What is in question is to what level these judiciaries are accountable under the constitutions giving them breath. The paper also takes a look at the constitutions giving rise to the three judiciaries and how the judiciaries in the comparators have succeeded in keeping the other arms of government under check. The paper then looks at institutional conflicts between the judiciaries in the respective comparators and the other arms of government. Safeguards against such conflict is also discussed even as the paper takes a drift that whereas there are benefits of independence of the judiciary, there could be traces of judicial overreach that are equally a threat to democracy. The constitutions of Kenya, Colombia and India have all been designed to provide for separation of powers. This without a doubt creates independent branches of government. The judgements given by these judiciaries is where the lines are drawn. This together with how accountable a judicial body is. |
| Supervisor | Berihun Adugna Gebeye |
| Department | Legal Studies LLM |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2022/omondi_denin.pdf |
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