Analysis Opinion

Kenya: finding Kafka in the criminal justice system

Gilbert M. Omware, Defence lawyer and criminal justice researcher, currently working as a Managing Partner for Mitullah, Shako and Associates Advocates LLP. discusses the injustices faced by vulnerable groups in pretrial detention.

ICPR and Prison Insider asked several experts worldwide to share their insights in the framework of the project Understanding and reducing the use of imprisonment in 10 countries. Read Gilbert M. Omware’ insights.

Better a criminal conviction and resulting record than staying in remand prison, a hellish limbo, where your fate is always pending, indeterminate.

Research shows that 86 per cent of pretrial detainees in Kenya have no access to legal representation, despite the Legal Aid Act, 2016.

Vulnerable pretrial detainees may end up accepting unfair deals just to get out of remand prisons

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Gilbert Mitullah Omware

Mitullah, Shako and Associates Advocates LLP

Gilbert Mitullah Omware is a pro bono criminal defence lawyer and a criminal justice researcher with a focus on the right to state sponsored legal representation. He presently serves as the Managing Partner for Mitullah, Shako and Associates Advocates LLP.

About the project

Understanding and reducing the use of imprisonment in ten countries

This project has been led by the Institute for Crime and Justice Policy Research (ICPR). In selecting the ten jurisdictions included in the study, ICPR has worked with over fifty NGOs and practitioner organisations involved in criminal justice reform. ICPR partnered with Prison Insider in the latter stages of the project to shed light on key aspects of the research. Both organisations collected experts’ insights and facilitated the conversation around the most saliant themes covered by the research. The project focuses on five themes that can be found in the drop down menu.
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