The Republic of Kenya’s Judiciary notified the public that from July 1, 2020, Kenyans will only be allowed to file cases online in Nairobi. This will be done through the new Electronic Filing System (e-filing)

INTRODUCTION OF ELECTRONIC-FILING OF CASES IN NAIROBI COURTS pic.twitter.com/seXlR865pK

— David Maraga (@dkmaraga) June 16, 2020

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E-Filing: How To File Cases Online

To be able to do this some parties will be required to register themselves through the e-filing court platform. This is in order to be able to log into the Judiciary System. These parties include:

• Law Society of Kenya (LSK) Members
• Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
• Police
• Members of the Public

After you visit the page and choose ‘Individual’ for example,

1. Fill in all your details
2. Activate your account: You will probably get it in spam email
3. Update your account details and you are in.

From here, you will be able to upload documents, asses court fees and submit files to the registry all online. The statement says that as long as your device is able to attach files and access the internet, you should be good to go. This means you can use your phone, tablet, laptop or computer.

Filing A Case

 To begin the process:

• Click on file new case
• Correctly enter the details of the parties and then click next
• Ensure that each document is scanned separately and correctly labelled
• Choose the name of the document to be uploaded from the drop-down menu and attach the document from the storage location (flash disc/ hard drive)
• Upload the document into the e-filing system
• Pay the correct amount assessed using the MPESA Paybill Number 553388 and the Unique Account Number indicated on the Invoice (Starting with letter “E”)
• Once you receive a confirmation message from KCB, the system will auto-generate a case number
• Write the generated case number on your documents.
• Print the Electronic Receipt and keep it for future court visit to enable the cashier give you an official receipt and subsequent stamping of your documents.

The courts are already increasingly using ICT to perform other court-based duties including using Zoom to spin the wheel of Justice. The complaints are there but the systems seem to be working well so far.

They will soon launch a court recording and transcription system but for now. The system is already up and running. The Chief Justice will officially launch the system at the beginning of July but for now, you should start getting familiar with it.