Chief Justice Martha Koome calls for a shared East African commitment to multi-door justice

Kenyan Chief Justice Martha Koome has today called for a deeper, shared East African commitment to refine and strengthen multi-door justice approaches, including supporting jurisdictions whose mediation frameworks, alternative justice systems, and specialised court systems are still at early stages of development.

“Legislative challenges, resource constraints, community engagement gaps, capacity limitations, and the need for sustainable investment in technology and training affect us all,” said the Chief Justice during today’s official opening of the 22nd East Africa Magistrates and Judges Association (EAMJA) Annual Conference.

“It is precisely for this reason that regional collaboration remains critical and indispensable,” she continued, noting this week’s EAMJA event provides us “a rare and valuable space for reflection, peer learning, and collective problem-solving”.

Judges and magistrates from Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania have gathered in Nairobi this week, aiming to reshape the delivery of justice across East Africa. This year’s EAMJA Annual Conference is themed “Justice Beyond Brick and Mortar: Unlocking Multi-Door Pathways for People-Centred Justice in East Africa”.

Chief Justice Koome noted this year’s theme speaks directly to a critical moment for the region, where the legitimacy of East Africa’s justice systems increasingly depends on their ability to serve people where they are, in ways they understand, and through mechanisms that respond to their lived realities. She noted that although each East African country is taking its own path toward people-centred justice, the challenges and opportunities remain strikingly similar.

“For many of our people, the formal court system remains slow, costly, distant, or intimidating,” she observed. “Increasing caseloads strain our institutions, and our citizens still feel disconnected from justice systems designed to serve them.”.

Given the needs of citizens, people-centred justice has emerged as not merely an aspiration, but a necessity, said the Chief Justice. The lens must shift from seeing the judiciary as the sole avenue for the resolution of disputes; they must expand access to justice through multiple pathways tailored to diverse community needs.

A shared regional commitment to strengthen multi-door justice, says Koome, would ensure countries advance together in laying firm foundations for people-centred justice, harmonising regional standards, promoting joint training for judicial officers, mediators, and AJS practitioners, and deepening inter-country partnerships.

“The movement toward people-centred justice challenges us to rethink not only how we deliver justice, but where, with whom, and through what means,” she told EAMJA attendees. “It requires us to see justice not as a place where people go, but as a public good that must be available in community spaces, through dialogue, and through innovative mechanisms that respect culture, dignity, and agency.”

The shift towards people-centred justice demands that the judiciary adopts a broader identity with courage and determination, added Koome. It challenges them to redesign processes so the justice system bends towards the realities of ordinary lives, rather than requiring ordinary lives to bend towards the rigidities of systems.

Deputy President Kithure Kindiki, a lawyer and former law professor, also called for judicial systems that function as open doorways rather than barriers, and through which fairness, dignity, and economic opportunity can flow throughout East Africa.

At times, says Kindiki, the justice system appears more like a fortress than a support structure for millions of people: intimidating spaces, distant, slow, and costly.

Kindiki did caution that while expanding alternative pathways, the courts must continue to uphold safeguards to ensure expediency never substitutes for fairness. “Gender-sensitive guidelines, human rights protections, appellate pathways, and constitutional guardrails must form the backbone of all multi-door justice initiatives.”

Kenya stands ready to work hand-in-hand with all judiciaries across the region, said the Deputy President, to harness and share experiences in order to build judicial systems that listen to citizens, respect their dignity, and deliver justice fairly and expeditiously.