Court extends freeze on JSC cases against CJ Koome, top judges

The High Court has prolonged temporary orders preventing the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) from proceeding with petitions submitted by former Law Society of Kenya (LSK) President Nelson Havi and 15 others.

The petitions seek the ouster of Chief Justice Martha Koome along with six Supreme Court judges.

These conservatory orders will remain in place until July 4, 2025.

A bench of three judges — Justices Charles Kariuki, Lawrence Mugambi, and Bahati Mwamuye — further directed that Chief Justice Koome and four other Supreme Court judges have until May 21, 2025, to revise their applications opposing the attempts to remove them from office.

This development came after a request by their legal counsel, led by advocate Julius Kemboi, who asked for additional time to include fresh details ahead of the scheduled hearings.

The three-judge bench also merged the petitions filed by all the Supreme Court judges, noting that they touch on interconnected constitutional and legal matters.

The decision to consolidate followed a plea by Nelson Havi, who sought clarification on whether the petitions submitted by the seven judges should be handled individually or as a single case.

The legal representatives for both the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) and the Attorney General, led by Senior Counsel Emmanuel Bitta, did not object to the request for consolidation or the extension granted to amend the petitions.

With the consolidation approved, the bench outlined a structured timeline to steer the proceedings, directing the Deputy Registrar to finalize and file the list of parties involved in the consolidated petitions by May 19, 2025.

The court further instructed all involved parties—including the seven Supreme Court judges, the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), and the Attorney General—to file and serve hard copies of their pleadings by May 21, 2025.

Additionally, the JSC and the Attorney General were given until May 25, 2025, to submit their responses to the petitions.

The bench further allowed the petitioners and all parties backing the consolidated petitions to file their submissions by June 10, 2025.

Those opposing the petitions—including the JSC, the Attorney General, Nelson Havi, and 14 others such as Senior Counsel Ahmednasir Abdullahi, former MP and Cabinet Secretary Raphael Tuju, and his children—were directed to file their submissions by June 17, 2025.

Justice Lawrence Mugambi also noted that all pending applications had been resolved through mutual consent of the parties involved.

Justice Mugambi further confirmed that the conservatory orders currently in effect will stay in place until the petition is fully heard and determined.

"The conservatory orders shall remain in force until the petition is heard and determined," he ruled.

Central to this legal battle are petitions targeting the removal of Chief Justice Martha Koome, Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu, and Supreme Court Justices Smokin Wanjala, Njoki Ndung’u, Isaac Lenaola, Mohamed Ibrahim, and William Ouko.

All seven Supreme Court judges have submitted petitions challenging the admissibility of the complaints filed with the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), arguing that the proceedings are unconstitutional and inherently biased.