{"id":119806,"date":"2025-08-15T09:10:32","date_gmt":"2025-08-15T09:10:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/index.php\/2025\/08\/15\/proposed-law-sparks-backlash-over-presidents-role-in-senior-counsel-awards\/"},"modified":"2025-08-15T09:10:32","modified_gmt":"2025-08-15T09:10:32","slug":"proposed-law-sparks-backlash-over-presidents-role-in-senior-counsel-awards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/proposed-law-sparks-backlash-over-presidents-role-in-senior-counsel-awards\/","title":{"rendered":"Proposed law sparks backlash over President\u2019s role in Senior Counsel awards"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 15 \u2014 The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) and the Senior Counsel Bar have rejected a proposed amendment to the Advocates Act that would give the President unilateral authority to confer the prestigious rank of Senior Counsel.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In a statement on Thursday, LSK President Faith Odhiambo warned that the proposal threatens to erode decades of professional standards by shifting the process from an independent, merit-based system to political control.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe proposed amendments risk undermining decades of hard-won standards by shifting authority to confer this prestigious rank to political officeholders,\u201d Odhiambo said. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis process must remain merit-based, peer-reviewed and independent of political influence.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She stressed that the title of Senior Counsel should represent \u201clegal excellence earned through professional achievement, not an automatic title tied to public office.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u2018Legal excellence\u2019 <\/h2>\n<p>Odhiambo urged Tharaka Nithi MP George Murugara \u2014 the sponsor of the amendment \u2014 to withdraw it unconditionally and uphold the current framework anchored in the Law Society of Kenya Act and includes public participation.<\/p>\n<p>The rank of Senior Counsel is the highest honour within Kenya\u2019s legal profession, akin to the title of Queen\u2019s Counsel in the United Kingdom. <\/p>\n<p>It is awarded to advocates who have demonstrated exceptional competence, integrity, and leadership in legal practice.<\/p>\n<p>Under the current system, the Committee on Senior Counsel, which comprises sitting judges, distinguished advocates, and representatives from the LSK vets nominated candidates for conferrement. <\/p>\n<p>The President\u2019s role is ceremonial, conferring the honour based on the committee\u2019s recommendation.<\/p>\n<p>Since its establishment, the process has remained insulated from political interference, ensuring the recognition is based solely on professional merit.<\/p>\n<p>Odhiambo underscored that maintaining this independence is vital for protecting both the dignity of the Senior Counsel rank and public trust in the legal profession.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSafeguarding this process protects not just the dignity of the rank, but the integrity of our profession,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>The LSK said it will continue engaging with lawmakers to shape reforms that strengthen \u2014 rather than politicise \u2014 the legal profession\u2019s highest honours.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 15 \u2014 The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) and the Senior Counsel Bar have rejected a proposed amendment to the Advocates Act that would give the President unilateral authority to confer the prestigious rank of Senior Counsel. In a statement on Thursday, LSK President Faith Odhiambo warned that the proposal threatens to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-119806","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119806","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119806"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119806\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}