The Chief Justice of the Republic of Kenya, the Honourable Judges and

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1 SPEECH DELIVERED DURING THE ADMISSION OF NEW ADVOCATES ON 1 ST APRIL, 2016 AT THE SUPREME COURT OF KENYA, NAIROBI BY HON. MR. JUSTICE SAMSON OKONG O, PRESIDING JUDGE, ENVIRONMENT AND LAND COURT OF KENYA. The Chief Justice of the Republic of Kenya, the Honourable Judges and Magistrates present, Honourable Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen: 1. Felicitation: It is a great pleasure to have been asked by the Chief Justice to speak to you today. This is an important day for you, your families, friends and all of us present. This is a day which for many years was only in your dreams. Your dreams have today been realized. I know it was not smooth all the way. You faced many challenges and hurdles but with the help of God, your families and teachers, you surmounted them all to be here today. This is indeed a great achievement. You are today being inducted to the great and noble profession of law. On behalf of the judges, I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate you on your admission as advocates of the High Court of Kenya. I have a few words of advice for you as you start your journey in the profession. 2. Continuous Education: Legal education does not stop when you are admitted. Law is a profession that demands constant learning. New laws are being passed with regularity which was

2 not the case before. In Kenya we now have County Assemblies, National Assembly and the Senate all making laws. In addition, we have judge made law. Previously, we had only two superior courts of record. We now have five of such courts. In addition to local laws, you will also have to keep up with legal developments in the East African Region and in the International arena. You will have to take time to engage with these fast changing laws to be able to perform your duties competently. Your success in the profession is going to depend to a large extent on what you are going to learn when you leave here through practice,research and interaction with colleagues and judicial officers rather than on what you already know. I want to appeal you to be receptive to learning and mentorship. 3. Changing Legal Landscape: To borrow from Dr. Spencer Johnson s book; Who Moved My Cheese, I want to tell you that the cheese has moved in the legal profession. The legal sector is in a time of unprecedented change. Consumer demands and developments in technology have fundamentally changed the ways in which legal services are delivered. Kenyans of today demand value for their money. It is no longer business as usual. Days are gone when you would take months to respond to correspondence or years to render services for which you have been paid. We are now dealing with sophisticated consumers of legal services who know their rights. Theycan neither be cheated nor taken for a ride. These are the realities that you

3 will have to live with. You will have to adapt to these changing trends or be banished from the profession. For your information, many have suffered this fate. That said; I must add that, we have a lot of hope in you. Compared to the years gone by, most of you are now entering the profession with more education and technological skills. Some of you have post graduate degrees. Some are professionals in their own right in other fields. We hope that these extra competencies and capabilities would assist you in coping with the fast changing legal landscape. 4. Position of advocates in society: Advocates occupy a special position in society. They are supposed to act as watchdogs for the rule of law. The society is always wary of those who wield the coercive power of the state. We have one of the most liberal and progressive constitutions in the world with a robust bill of rights. The noble and wellmeaning provisions of our constitution will not become a practical reality to the public unless they have access to competent legal advice and representation. As an advocateyou have a duty to preserve and promote the rule of law. This profession requires courage and boldness. You must be prepared to act for unpopular clients and to speak against abuse of power. Acts of courage by a few lawyers had in the past produced remarkable changes and contributedimmensely to the political and social transformation of this great country.this profession has a tradition; that of ensuring that fairness, justice and equality before the law reigns in society. In

4 joining the profession, you have a duty to the profession to maintain this tradition. 5. Duty to the court, colleagues and clients: The oath that you have taken todaybinds you to honour your duty to the court. You are now an officer of the court. You have a duty to assist the court to do justice. You also owe a duty to your clients and colleagues. You will have to do a balancing act to ensure that there is no conflict in serving these different interests. Your duty to the court is paramount. Your duty to your clients or colleagues cannot override your solemn duty to the court. I have a problem with the way many advocates relate to each other nowadays. There is very little civility and professionalismin the manner advocates deal with each other. Civility and professionalism has been replaced with antagonism. I know that the number of advocates has grown over the years, and opportunities for personal relationships and mentorship may have dwindled. This cannot however justify the lack of professional courtesy and decorum that we are witnessing today among some advocates. It is not rare these days to hear an advocate referring to his colleague s submissions as rubbish or nonsense. We have even witnessed a case where a male advocate referred to a female colleague as this woman. If that is not enough, we were treated the other day to a rare spectacle where two learned friends engaged each other in a fist fight inside a court room; playing gladiators for their respective clients. How far can we go?

5 6. The problem escalated to the bench: Sadly, this problematic situation has been escalated to the bench. There have been occasions where sense of good judgment on the part of advocateshas been blurred by disappointment over a court decision. This has normally been followed by unjustified claims on the conduct and ability of the courtand an application for recusal.i want to make it clear that we do not fear or detest criticism. We are servants of the people and those we serve must call us to account. It is through criticism of our work that we can improve. The criticism must however be positive and must be carried out with decorum and some level of civility. There is no need to disparage the court. We all serve at the altar of justice. When such thing happens we all lose because the public s confidence in the administration of justice takes a dive. I don t think anyone would want to instruct you to take a dispute to courtif they have no confidence in the justice system.as you go out there, I would appeal to you to take pride not only in the great profession that you have joined but also in all its members including the bench. 7. An advocate must have integrity: When I was at the law school 25 years ago, I was taught that an advocate s word is his bond. I was told that a lawyer sword could be taken to the bank and cashed. I was taught that an advocate must have impeccable integrity. To me integrity entails three things namely, telling the truth (honesty), keeping your word and

6 practising what you say you believe in. Today, these can only be said to be aspirational virtues to many advocates.in 1881, a US judge described the qualities needed in an attorney as follows; It is not enough for the attorney that he be honest. He must be that and more. He must be believed to be honest. It is absolutely essential to the usefulness of an attorney that he be entitled to the confidence of the community wherein he practices...a lawyer needs, indeed to be learned.and he must have prudence and tact to use his learning and foresight and industry and courage. But all these may exist in a moderate degree and yet he may be creditable and useful member of the profession, so long as the practice is to him a clean and honest function. But..once the practice becomes to him a nice brawl for hire or a system of legalized plunder where craft and not conscience is the rule and where false hood and not truth is the means by which to gain his end, then he has forfeited all right to be an officer in any court of justice or to be numbered among the members of an honourable profession. When you engage in dishonesty as an advocate, you forfeit the moral standing to be called an officer of the court and a member of the noble profession of law.as I have stated earlier in this speech, we have a lot of hope in you. You have an opportunity to do things differently. I believe that you were attracted to the legal profession by the desire to make a

7 difference in society and to be a guardian of justice.you were not attracted to the profession to draw illicit gain. I urge you not to be afraid to challenge the norm. The norm now is that Law is no longer practice but business where what matters is the bottom line. On issues to do with professional ethics, my advice to you is to make your own track. Don t follow the down trodden path. Chart your own course and destiny. You will never regret doing what is right and just. 8. Conclusion: In conclusion, it is once again my great pleasure to wish you the very best of luck and God s blessings as you embark on what I believe will be an illustrious career in law. Thank you.