Pro Bono Practices and Opportunities in Kenya

Published on 15 May 2019 This is an overview of pro bono practices and opportunities in Kenya, including key practice rules, culture, obstacles to undertaking pro bono and sources of pro bono opportunities.

Access to justice in Kenya is still regarded as expensive due to high legal fees levied by lawyers. A majority of Kenya’s population cannot afford to retain the services of a lawyer and often resort to self representation (mostly in criminal cases), legal aid and pro bono legal services. In practice, there is no clear-cut distinction between legal aid and pro bono legal services in Kenya. Whereas government driven aid or support is referred to as legal aid, some private firms and organizations offering such services also refer to their activities as legal aid. For example, Kituo Cha Sheria, a non-governmental organization that pools together volunteer advocates to take up matters on pro bono basis, refers to this service as legal aid. Private law firms, on the other hand, refer to these services as pro bono legal services. Use of the term “legal aid” by non-governmental organizations may therefore refer to pro bono legal services in some instances.

Kenya has for a long time lacked a substantial legal aid system. However, there have been noticeable improvements in the past few years. Whereas legal aid services are regulated by the recently enacted Legal Aid Act No. 6 of 2016 (the “Act”), the provision of pro bono legal services remains unregulated. The Act regulates the provision of legal aid services in Kenya and established the National Legal Aid Service (“NLAS”) to provide legal aid services at the expense of the State to persons who qualify for legal aid services under the Act. In 2017, the Office of the Attorney General and Department of Justice in conjunction with the NLAS launched the National Action Plan on Legal Aid, 2017-2022 which is expected to serve as a road map for coordinated implementation of legal aid interventions between the government and legal aid actors in Kenya. The National Action Plan, if successfully implemented, will facilitate the full implementation of the National Legal Aid and Awareness Policy, 2015 as well as the Legal Aid Act 2016.