Despite any provision in these Rules, the Court shall administer justice without undue regard to procedural technicalities as contemplated under Article 159 (2) (d) of the Constitution.

A proceeding before the Court shall not be rendered invalid merely because a party has failed to comply with any aspect of these Rules, but the Court has the discretion to invalidate any proceedings for reasons to be recorded.

Where a party fails to comply with these Rules or the relevant Practice Directions, the Court may, having regard to the seriousness of the non-compliance and generally to the circumstances of the case, give appropriate directions.

The Registrar or an officer discharging the functions of the office may refuse to accept any document which does not comply with these Rules or the relevant Practice Directions and may give appropriate directions.

The Chief Registrar of the Judiciary shall, in consultation with the Chief Justice determine the place or places where the voting shall take place.

A candidate for the position of the Principal Judge shall be nominated by an eligible voter who is not a candidate.

If only one person is validly nominated under this rule, the Commission shall declare that person to be duly elected.

The Chief Registrar shall, at the time of submitting the list of nominees to the Commission, also submit a register of eligible voters.

The register referred to under paragraph (1) shall contain the full names and station of every eligible voter.

A judge participating in any aspect of the electoral process shall conform to and promote the requirements of the Judiciary Code of Conduct relating to maintenance of order, decorum and integrity.

The election of the Principal Judge shall be conducted on the date specified under rule 5 and shall be conducted in the manner set out under this rule.

Every eligible voter shall be entitled to one vote.

There shall be no voting by proxy.

The Commission shall promptly count the ballots cast for each candidate after the close of the election.

A candidate or eligible voter may be present during the counting of the ballots.

The Commission shall tally the votes obtained by each candidate and publicly declare the result.

The Commission shall have the discretion to decide whether or not a ballot is spoilt and whether it should be included in the tally of votes under paragraph (3).

The Commission shall declare the candidate who has obtained the highest number of valid votes to be duly elected and shall issue a certificate of that declaration to the Chief Justice and a copy to the duly elected candidate and to all other candidates.

In the event of a tie among the top candidates, the Commission shall hold a fresh election and the candidates in that election shall be only the candidates who garnered the highest number of votes.

A candidate who is dissatisfied with the outcome of the election may petition the Chief Justice not later than five days after the declaration of the result.

Upon receipt of the petition, the Chief Justice and two other judges of the Court who are not candidates in the election shall consider the merits of the petition and if satisfied that there are sufficient grounds to warrant investigation, appoint a Panel to determine the matter within five days.

The Panel shall regulate its own procedure.

Where a vacancy arises in the office of Principal Judge, an election of Principal Judge shall be initiated in accordance with these Rules.

Where the Principle Judge is temporarily absent from office, the Judge may appoint a Presiding Judge of a division or station to discharge the functions of the office and shall notify all judges of the Court and the Registrar.

In the case of a vacancy in the office of the Principal Judge, the Chief Justice may appoint an acting Principal Judge for a period not exceeding sixty days.

Pursuant to section 6(1) of the Judicial Service Act, 2011 (No. 1 of 2011), the Principal Judge shall serve for a non-renewable term of five years, but the Principal Judge may be recalled before the end of the term.

A recall shall be initiated by a petition addressed to the Chief Justice signed by two-thirds the number of all the judges of the Court expressing no confidence in the leadership of the Principal Judge.

The Chief Justice and two other judges of the Court shall consider both the petition and the representations of the Principal Judge and make a decision within seven days.

A party to a cause may at any time apply to a Duty Judge for an order that the cause shall be tried or heard during recess, and the application shall be accompanied by an affidavit setting out the grounds and the urgency.

The Duty Judge may, upon determining that there is an urgent need for the trial or hearing to take place during recess, make an order accordingly and fix a date for the trial or hearing.

During Court recess, a party to a cause may at any time during a court recess, file an application, in accordance with the Civil Procedure Rules, 2010 (L.N. 151/2010) which application may be heard and determined by the Registrar.

An application under this rule filed before noon shall be considered the same day.

An application under this rule filed after noon shall be considered the following day.

Subject to the Practice Directions issued by the Chief Justice, the filing of appeals, bail applications and references from subordinate courts, tribunals and other bodies or authorities within regions designated under the Schedule shall be made to the respective High Court Station Registry with corresponding supervisory jurisdiction according to the established judicial administrative regions set out in the Schedule.

A judge appointed as the Chairperson of the National Community Service Orders Committee under the Community Service Orders Act, 1998 (No. 10 of 1998) shall coordinate with the respective Presiding judge on matters relating to community service.

The Registrar or an officer discharging the functions of the office may refuse to accept for the filing of an appeal, bail application or reference from subordinate courts, tribunal and other bodies or authorities presented contrary to the judicial administrative regions set out in the Schedule.

The Chief Justice may from time to time amend the Schedule to these Rules.

The form of filing appeals to the Court shall be as specified in the relevant law.

The filing procedures including registration requirements, admission and rejection of appeals may be provided for in the general guidelines.

The Registrar shall, with a view to making proper use of the Court's time and avoiding unnecessary applications and adjournments, list all or part of the pending cases before a single judge for a case management conference.

The Registrar shall fix a date for the case management conference at least forty five days after the close of pleadings.

The Principal Judge shall establish measures to ensure that matters are disposed of within twelve months from the date the Court first sets the matter down for hearing.

All pleadings, affidavits, reports or any other documents filed in the Court shall be in print form and may, in addition, be filed in electronic form using an official email address and mobile telephone number.

Where a document is lodged in a sub-registry, the Deputy Registrar receiving the document shall transmit the document to the Registry.

A document prepared for use in the Court may, unless the nature of the document renders it impracticable, be on a paper of durable quality with writings on only one side of the paper, and a margin of not less than one and a half inches on the left side of the sheet.

A document prepared for use in the Court must be clear and legible, and may be produced by printing, typing, lithography, stencil duplicating, photography, xerography, typewriting, writing, other appropriate technology, or any combination of these media.

The record of appeal in a criminal appeal and, in every civil appeal, the memorandum of appeal and the record of appeal, may be bound in more than one volume and the title of the appeal shall appear on the cover page.

The pages of an application including the record of appeal in criminal cases and the memorandum of appeal and the record of appeal in civil cases, shall be numbered consecutively.

In an application or an appeal, every tenth line of each page of the record shall be indicated in the margin on the right side of the sheet.

The Court may limit the number of pages of submissions to be filed and require a summary of authorities that a party seeks to refer to.

Notwithstanding any other provision in this rule, the Court may, where necessary and in the interest of justice, vary the requirements relating to filing of documents in the Court.

A party may, with the leave of the Court or with the written consent of the other party, lodge further pleadings or affidavits.

An application for leave under this Rule may be made informally.

All pleadings, affidavits or other documents filed under this rule shall be served on all parties in accordance with this rule.

Proof of service shall be by affidavit in the prescribed form.

The Registrar may give notice of any directions in a manner approved by the Court.

Subject to the Civil Procedure Rules, 2010 (L.N. 151/2010) and Criminal Procedure Code (Cap. 75), the Court may, at the close of any hearing, give its decision but reserve its reasons.

Where the Court reserves its reasons for a decision under paragraph (1), the Court shall deliver the reasons within seven days and for purposes of an appeal, the date of delivery of the reasons shall be the date of the decision.

Where a decision of one judge is to be read by another Judge, any judge of the Court shall deliver the decision.

A decision or reasons for a decision under paragraph (2) and (3) shall be written, dated and signed by the judge who wrote it, and the judge delivering the decision or reasons shall countersign and date it in open court.

In addition to the special powers of Registrars provided under Order 49 of the Civil Procedure Rules, 2010, a Deputy Registrar of the Court may, with the approval of the Court, issue administrative or procedural directions.

The Registrar or an officer discharging the functions of the office may, in consultation with the Principal Judge, categorize any information as confidential information in the control of the court for purposes of safeguarding the rights and welfare of vulnerable persons.

Where the information is categorized as confidential in accordance with paragraph (1), the Principal Judge may specify which information may be available to the public and in which form.

Except as provided in these Rules, the disposal of records in the custody of the Court shall be in accordance with the provisions of the Records Disposal Act (Cap. 14), or as the Chief Justice may direct.

Pursuant to section 28 of the Act, the Registrar shall establish and maintain a uniform court record management system to be administered in accordance with the stipulated guidelines and other directions issued by the Chief Justice.

Where a file of the Court is reported missing, the Court may, after notifying the parties and allowing a period of fourteen days for its tracing, order for the reconstruction of the file within fourteen days.

A decision of the Court to reconstruct a lost file shall be communicated to all the parties in a matter.

Where a lost file is traced after a new one is reconstructed, the two files shall be consolidated into one.

The Principal Judge may from time to time, in consultation with the Chief Justice and the Chief Registrar, publish general guidelines for the automation of court records.

Where the proceedings of the Court are recorded other than by hand, such records may be kept in any secure form including video, audio, audio-visual, Braille and computer-based systems.

The Court has the same jurisdiction, power and authority in respect of contempt of subordinate courts as it has in contempt before it.

In any other case, other than contempt on the face of a subordinate court, the Court shall, in the exercise of its supervisory powers and on application by any person to the Court, punish contempt of court.

An offence of contempt of court may be hied summarily and the court shall keep a record of the proceedings.

Despite paragraph (1), proceedings on contempt of court may be held in camera.

Upon conclusion of proceedings of contempt of court, the Court may issue orders concerning appeals and limitation for appeals.

Despite the provisions of this rule, any proceedings to try an offence of contempt of court shall not take away the right of a person to a fair administrative action and fair trial provided in Articles 47 and 50 of the Constitution.

Where a party intends to address the Court in a language other than English or Kiswahili, the party may give the Deputy Registrar seven days' written notice before the date of the hearing.

On the date of hearing, the Deputy Registrar shall facilitate the appearance in court of a suitable interpreter or a person capable of translating sign language.

In exercise of its judicial authority, the Court may, on its own motion or at the request of the parties, direct that the dispute be resolved by any appropriate Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanism including conciliation, mediation, arbitration and traditional dispute resolution mechanisms in accordance with Article 159 of the Constitution and Section 26 of the Act.

An alternative dispute resolution mechanism used under paragraph (1) may be guided by the guidelines and rules developed by the Chief Justice for that purpose.

The Principal Judge shall, from time to time, publish general guidelines for the conduct of the business and affairs of leadership and management teams of the divisions or stations of the Court.

Subject to paragraph (1), the leadership and management teams shall regulate their own procedures.

A judge of the Court shall sign and subscribe to the Code of Conduct in accordance with the Constitution, the Act or any other written law.

For purposes of section 17 of the Public Service (Values and Principles) Act, 2015 (No. 1A of 2015) the Code of Conduct for Judges shall be the instrument through which the provisions of the Act shall be given effect.

The Code of Conduct shall be administered and enforced through the peer review mechanism established by the Chief Justice from time to time.

Despite any provision in these Rules, the Court shall administer justice without undue regard to procedural technicalities as contemplated under Article 159(2)(d) of the Constitution.

A proceeding before the Court shall not be rendered invalid merely because a party has failed to comply with any aspect of these Rules, but the Court has the discretion to invalidate any proceedings for reasons to be recorded.

Where a party fails to comply with these Rules or the relevant Practice Directions, the Court may, having regard to the seriousness of the non-compliance and generally to the circumstances of the case, give appropriate directions.

The Registrar or an officer discharging the functions of the office may refuse to accept any document which does not comply with these Rules or the relevant Practice Directions and may give appropriate directions.

The Chief Registrar of the Judiciary shall, in consultation with the Chief Justice determine the place or places where the voting shall take place.

A candidate for the position of the Principal Judge shall be nominated by an eligible voter who is not a candidate.

If only one person is validly nominated under this rule, the Commission shall declare that person to be duly elected.

The Chief Registrar shall, at the time of submitting the list of nominees to the Commission, also submit a register of eligible voters.

The register referred to under paragraph (1) shall contain the full names and station of every eligible voter.

A judge participating in any aspect of the electoral process shall conform to and promote the requirements of the Judiciary Code of Conduct relating to maintenance of order, decorum and integrity.

The election of the Principal Judge shall be conducted on the date specified under rule 5 and shall be conducted in the manner set out under this rule.

Every eligible voter shall be entitled to one vote.

There shall be no voting by proxy.

The Commission shall promptly count the ballots cast for each candidate after the close of the election.

A candidate or eligible voter may be present during the counting of the ballots.

The Commission shall tally the votes obtained by each candidate and publicly declare the result.

The Commission shall have the discretion to decide whether or not a ballot is spoilt and whether it should be included in the tally of votes under paragraph (3).

The Commission shall declare the candidate who has obtained the highest number of valid votes to be duly elected and shall issue a certificate of that declaration to the Chief Justice and a copy to the duly elected candidate and to all other candidates.

In the event of a tie among the top candidates, the Commission shall hold a fresh election and the candidates in that election shall be only the candidates who garnered the highest number of votes.

A candidate who is dissatisfied with the outcome of the election may petition the Chief Justice not later than five days after the declaration of the result.

Upon receipt of the petition, the Chief Justice and two other judges of the Court who are not candidates in the election shall consider the merits of the petition and if satisfied that there are sufficient grounds to warrant investigation, appoint a Panel to determine the matter within five days.

The Panel shall regulate its own procedure.

Where a vacancy arises in the office of Principal Judge, an election of Principal Judge shall be initiated in accordance with these Rules.

Where the Principle Judge is temporarily absent from office, the Judge may appoint a Presiding Judge of a division or station to discharge the functions of the office and shall notify all judges of the Court and the Registrar.

In the case of a vacancy in the office of the Principal Judge, the Chief Justice may appoint an acting Principal Judge for a period not exceeding sixty days.

Pursuant to section 6(1) of the Judicial Service Act (Cap. 8A), the Principal Judge shall serve for a non-renewable term of five years, but the Principal Judge may be recalled before the end of the term.

A recall shall be initiated by a petition addressed to the Chief Justice signed by two-thirds the number of all the judges of the Court expressing no confidence in the leadership of the Principal Judge.

The Chief Justice and two other judges of the Court shall consider both the petition and the representations of the Principal Judge and make a decision within seven days.

A party to a cause may at any time apply to a Duty Judge for an order that the cause shall be tried or heard during recess, and the application shall be accompanied by an affidavit setting out the grounds and the urgency.

The Duty Judge may, upon determining that there is an urgent need for the trial or hearing to take place during recess, make an order accordingly and fix a date for the trial or hearing.

During Court recess, a party to a cause may at any time during a court recess, file an application, in accordance with the Civil Procedure Rules (L.N. 151/2010) which application may be heard and determined by the Registrar.

An application under this rule filed before noon shall be considered the same day.

An application under this rule filed after noon shall be considered the following day.

Subject to the Practice Directions issued by the Chief Justice, the filing of appeals, bail applications and references from subordinate courts, tribunals and other bodies or authorities within regions designated under the Schedule shall be made to the respective High Court Station Registry with corresponding supervisory jurisdiction according to the established judicial administrative regions set out in the Schedule.

A judge appointed as the Chairperson of the National Community Service Orders Committee under the Community Service Orders Act (Cap. 93) shall coordinate with the respective Presiding judge on matters relating to community service.

The Registrar or an officer discharging the functions of the office may refuse to accept for the filing of an appeal, bail application or reference from subordinate courts, tribunal and other bodies or authorities presented contrary to the judicial administrative regions set out in the Schedule.

The Chief Justice may from time to time amend the Schedule to these Rules.

The form of filing appeals to the Court shall be as specified in the relevant law.

The filing procedures including registration requirements, admission and rejection of appeals may be provided for in the general guidelines.

The Registrar shall, with a view to making proper use of the Court's time and avoiding unnecessary applications and adjournments, list all or part of the pending cases before a single judge for a case management conference.

The Registrar shall fix a date for the case management conference at least forty five days after the close of pleadings.

The Principal Judge shall establish measures to ensure that matters are disposed of within twelve months from the date the Court first sets the matter down for hearing.

All pleadings, affidavits, reports or any other documents filed in the Court shall be in print form and may, in addition, be filed in electronic form using an official email address and mobile telephone number.

Where a document is lodged in a sub-registry, the Deputy Registrar receiving the document shall transmit the document to the Registry.

A document prepared for use in the Court may, unless the nature of the document renders it impracticable, be on a paper of durable quality with writings on only one side of the paper, and a margin of not less than one and a half inches on the left side of the sheet.

A document prepared for use in the Court must be clear and legible, and may be produced by printing, typing, lithography, stencil duplicating, photography, xerography, typewriting, writing, other appropriate technology, or any combination of these media.

The record of appeal in a criminal appeal and, in every civil appeal, the memorandum of appeal and the record of appeal, may be bound in more than one volume and the title of the appeal shall appear on the cover page.

The pages of an application including the record of appeal in criminal cases and the memorandum of appeal and the record of appeal in civil cases, shall be numbered consecutively.

In an application or an appeal, every tenth line of each page of the record shall be indicated in the margin on the right side of the sheet.

The Court may limit the number of pages of submissions to be filed and require a summary of authorities that a party seeks to refer to.

Notwithstanding any other provision in this rule, the Court may, where necessary and in the interest of justice, vary the requirements relating to filing of documents in the Court.

A party may, with the leave of the Court or with the written consent of the other party, lodge further pleadings or affidavits.

An application for leave under this Rule may be made informally.

All pleadings, affidavits or other documents filed under this rule shall be served on all parties in accordance with this rule.

Proof of service shall be by affidavit in the prescribed form.

The Registrar may give notice of any directions in a manner approved by the Court.

Subject to the Civil Procedure Rules (L.N. 151/2010) and Criminal Procedure Code (Cap. 75), the Court may, at the close of any hearing, give its decision but reserve its reasons.

Where the Court reserves its reasons for a decision under paragraph (1), the Court shall deliver the reasons within seven days and for purposes of an appeal, the date of delivery of the reasons shall be the date of the decision.

Where a decision of one judge is to be read by another Judge, any judge of the Court shall deliver the decision.

A decision or reasons for a decision under paragraph (2) and (3) shall be written, dated and signed by the judge who wrote it, and the judge delivering the decision or reasons shall countersign and date it in open court.

In addition to the special powers of Registrars provided under Order 49 of the Civil Procedure Rules a Deputy Registrar of the Court may, with the approval of the Court, issue administrative or procedural directions.

The Registrar or an officer discharging the functions of the office may, in consultation with the Principal Judge, categorize any information as confidential information in the control of the court for purposes of safeguarding the rights and welfare of vulnerable persons.

Where the information is categorized as confidential in accordance with paragraph (1), the Principal Judge may specify which information may be available to the public and in which form.

Except as provided in these Rules, the disposal of records in the custody of the Court shall be in accordance with the provisions of the Records Disposal Act (Cap. 14), or as the Chief Justice may direct.

Pursuant to section 28 of the Act, the Registrar shall establish and maintain a uniform court record management system to be administered in accordance with the stipulated guidelines and other directions issued by the Chief Justice.

Where a file of the Court is reported missing, the Court may, after notifying the parties and allowing a period of fourteen days for its tracing, order for the reconstruction of the file within fourteen days.

A decision of the Court to reconstruct a lost file shall be communicated to all the parties in a matter.

Where a lost file is traced after a new one is reconstructed, the two files shall be consolidated into one.

The Principal Judge may from time to time, in consultation with the Chief Justice and the Chief Registrar, publish general guidelines for the automation of court records.

Where the proceedings of the Court are recorded other than by hand, such records may be kept in any secure form including video, audio, audio-visual, Braille and computer-based systems.

The Court has the same jurisdiction, power and authority in respect of contempt of subordinate courts as it has in contempt before it.

In any other case, other than contempt on the face of a subordinate court, the Court shall, in the exercise of its supervisory powers and on application by any person to the Court, punish contempt of court.

An offence of contempt of court may be hied summarily and the court shall keep a record of the proceedings.

Despite paragraph (1), proceedings on contempt of court may be held in camera.

Upon conclusion of proceedings of contempt of court, the Court may issue orders concerning appeals and limitation for appeals.

Despite the provisions of this rule, any proceedings to try an offence of contempt of court shall not take away the right of a person to a fair administrative action and fair trial provided in Articles 47 and 50 of the Constitution.

Where a party intends to address the Court in a language other than English or Kiswahili, the party may give the Deputy Registrar seven days' written notice before the date of the hearing.

On the date of hearing, the Deputy Registrar shall facilitate the appearance in court of a suitable interpreter or a person capable of translating sign language.

In exercise of its judicial authority, the Court may, on its own motion or at the request of the parties, direct that the dispute be resolved by any appropriate Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanism including conciliation, mediation, arbitration and traditional dispute resolution mechanisms in accordance with Article 159 of the Constitution and Section 26 of the Act.

An alternative dispute resolution mechanism used under paragraph (1) may be guided by the guidelines and rules developed by the Chief Justice for that purpose.

The Principal Judge shall, from time to time, publish general guidelines for the conduct of the business and affairs of leadership and management teams of the divisions or stations of the Court.

Subject to paragraph (1), the leadership and management teams shall regulate their own procedures.

A judge of the Court shall sign and subscribe to the Code of Conduct in accordance with the Constitution, the Act or any other written law.

For purposes of section 17 of the Public Service (Values and Principles) Act (Cap. 185A) the Code of Conduct for Judges shall be the instrument through which the provisions of the Act shall be given effect.

The Code of Conduct shall be administered and enforced through the peer review mechanism established by the Chief Justice from time to time.