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The Office of Chief Registrar of the Judiciary is established under Article 161(2)(c) of the Constitution to serve as the Chief Administrator and Accounting Officer of the Judiciary. Among the functions of the office is the management of the affairs of Advocates in exercise of powers bestowed by the Advocates Act, the Notaries Public Act, and the Oaths and Statutory Declarations Act.
These laws bestow the following functions on the Chief Registrar of the Judiciary:
These functions are performed by the Advocates Section which is domiciled in the Office of the Chief Registrar of the Judiciary
Admission as an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya
If you meet the criteria for a qualified person defined under Section 12 and 13 of the Advocates Act, you may apply to be admitted as an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya. The process of admission is governed by Section 15 of the Advocates Act.
Advocates are admitted by the Chief Justice who hears their petition for admission and grants an order admitting the individual as an Advocate. The Council of Legal Education (CLE) and the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) have the right of audience during the hearing of the petition.
Once the order is granted, the individual takes an oath or makes an affirmation as an officer of the Court before the Chief Justice and signs the Roll of Advocates before the Chief Registrar or a Deputy Registrar.
It is an offence to practice law without admission as an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya. Members of the public are also advised to seek legal services from persons who are admitted as Advocates. The Law Society of Kenya has a web page where you check whether your advocate is duly admitted.
Qualifications
A person seeking admission to the bar needs to demonstrate their qualifications, service and moral fitness to practice law. The Qualifications for admission as specified under Section 12 and 13 of the Advocates Act are as follows:
Subject to this Act, no person shall be admitted as an advocate unless—
(a) he is a citizen of Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda or Tanzania; and
(b) he is duly qualified in accordance with section 13.
(1) A person shall be duly qualified if—
(a) having passed the relevant examinations of any recognized university in Kenya he holds, or has become eligible for the conferment of, a degree in law of that university; or
(b) having passed the relevant examinations of such university, university college or other institution as the Council of Legal Education may from time to time approve, he holds, or has become eligible for conferment of, a degree in law in the grant of that university, university college or institution which the Council may in each particular case approve;
and thereafter both—
(c) he possesses any other qualifications which are acceptable to and recognized by the Council of Legal Education;
(d) he is an Advocate for the time being of the High Court of Uganda, the High Court of Rwanda, the High Court of Burundi or the High Court of Tanzania;
(e) he is for the time being admitted as an advocate of the superior court of a country within the Commonwealth and—
(i) has practised as such in that country for a period of not less than five years; and
(ii) is a member in good standing of the relevant professional body in that country:
Provided that the Council may, in addition, require that a person to whom this paragraph applies undergo such training, for a period not exceeding three months, as the Council may prescribe for the purpose of adapting to the practice of law in Kenya.
(2) The Council of Legal Education may exempt any person from any or all of the requirements prescribed for the purposes of paragraph (i) or paragraph (ii) of subsection (1) upon such conditions, if any, as the Council may impose.
Fees
A fee of KSh. 1,000 is payable when submitting a petition for admission.
How to Apply
Petitions for admission are submitted to the Advocates Section exclusively online through the Judiciary Advocates Management System that is accessible through https://jams.court.go.ke.
Candidates with Qualifications obtained from the Kenya School of Law:
Required Documents: After activating the account, the candidate is to file the Petition by uploading the following documents (NB. The documents are to be scanned (not photos) and converted to PDF before upload):
Payment: Upon verification and acceptance of the documents, an invoice for KSh. 1,000 Admission Fees will be generated by the system and the Petitioner will be prompted to make payment via M-Pesa. Upon payment, the system will generate and send to the petitioner a receipt.
Service on LSK & CLE: Section 15(1) of the Advocates Act requires copies of petitions for admission presented to the Chief Registrar to be served on LSK and CLE. Consequently, the two bodies have been granted access to the system to view and act on petitions for this purpose, and no service by the petitioner is necessary.
Section 15(3) of the Advocates Act requires the Chief Justice to hear the petitions within 90 days of the expiry of the 30-day statutory period following gazettement by the Chief Registrar and the admission date will be set within this 90-day window. Candidates appear at the admission ceremony during which they take an oath or make an affirmation as an officer of the Court before the Chief Justice and sign the Roll of Advocates before the Chief Registrar or a Deputy Registrar.
Candidates Already Admitted as Advocates in Other Jurisdictions:
i). A Notice of the Petition for Admission
ii). Cover Letter addressed to the Chief Justice, and copied to the Secretary of LSK and the Secretary of CLE
iii). The Petition for Admission
iv). Proof that one has been admitted as an advocate in the relevant jurisdiction, e.g. Certificate of Admission
v). Proof that one is a member in good standing of the relevant professional body in that country.
vi). Two (2) Certificates of Moral Fitness from Two (2) Advocates practicing in Kenya
vii). The current Practicing Certificates of the two Advocates issuing the Certificates of Moral Fitness
viii). A Statutory Declaration verifying the truth of the Petition
ix). A certified copy of the Petitioner’s LL.B. Degree Certificate
x). The Petitioner’s National ID (citizens) or Passport bio-data page (non-citizens)
USER SUPPORT: Every effort has been made to develop a system that is user friendly for all persons. Those with challenges may e-mail judiciary.advocates.system@gmail.com for support.
One of the functions of the Chief Registrar under Part VII of the Advocates Act is to issue annual Practising Certificates (PC) to Advocates. The PC is to be taken by Advocates on a yearly basis. It authorizes the Advocate to practice law during the year it is issued, and expires on 31st December of that year.
It is an offence to practice law without an annual PC. Members of the public are advised to verify the status of advocates using the Law Society of Kenya’s website which indicates whether an advocate has a PC for each year.
Fees
The Chief Registrar does not charge any fee for the issuance of annual PCs. However, applicants are required to demonstrate that they have paid to the Society the fee prescribed for a practising certificate and the annual subscriptions payable for the time being to the Society and to the Advocates Benevolent Association.
Application Process
Section 22 of the Advocates Act provides that:
(1) Application for a practising certificate shall be made to the Registrar—
(a) by delivering to him an application in duplicate, signed by the applicant specifying his name and place of business, and the date of his admission as an advocate;
(b) by producing evidence satisfactory to the Registrar that the applicant has paid to the Society the fee prescribed for a practising certificate and the annual subscriptions payable for the time being to the Society and to the Advocates Benevolent Association; and
(c) by producing a written approval signed by the Chairman of the Society stating that there is no objection to the grant of the certificate.
(2) Subject to section 31, the Registrar, if satisfied that the name of the applicant is on the Roll and that he is not for the time being suspended from practice, shall within fourteen days of the receipt by him of the application issue to the applicant a practising certificate.
In practice, the application for an annual PC is made to the Chief Registrar through the Law Society of Kenya through the process below:
A Notary Public is an Advocate who is appointed to perform within Kenya the functions and duties commonly performed by a notary public of the United Kingdom. These functions include:
The appointment and practice by Notaries Public is governed by the Notaries Public Act, Cap 17 Laws of Kenya and the Notaries Public Rules 1958.
Upon appointment, the Advocate is issued with a Certificate of Enrolment as a Notary Public which expires on the 31st of December in the year it is issued. Subsequently, the Notary must renew their appointment on an annual basis.
Any person who holds himself out to be a notary public or who receives any fee or reward as a notary public, unless he is enrolled under the Act, and unless he is the holder of a certificate then in force, commits an offence.
Qualifications
Section 3 of the provides that “No advocate shall be appointed under this Act unless he has practised as an advocate in Kenya for not less than five years immediately preceding his application to be appointed as a notary public.”
Fees
A fee of KSh. 1,500 is payable on application for appointment.
Application & Appointment Process
The application for appointment as a Notary Public is made in the form of a Petition addressed to the Chief Justice, using the process below:
Upon appointment a Notary Public, the Advocate is issued with a Certificate of Enrolment as a Notary Public which expires on the 31st of December in the year it is issued. Subsequently, the Notary must renew their appointment on an annual basis.
Qualifications/Requirements
A Notary Public should have an active Advocate’s Practicing Certificate before they can apply for renewal of their Notary appointment.
Fees
The fee payable on annual renewal is KSh. 500. Where an Advocate has not renewed their appointment for previous years, back fees of KSh. 500 will be charged for each year they did not renew their Notary appointment.
Application Process
Authentication is the process of certifying whether an Advocate is a Notary Public with an active annual licence.
Fees
There is no fee payable for requests for authentication of notarized documents.
Process
We request all Advocates/Notaries to bring this information to the attention of clients who seek notarization services in cases where authentication is required.
A Commissioner for Oaths is an advocate who is authorized to verify the signing of affidavits, statutory declarations and other legal documents. The appointment of Commissioners for oaths is governed by the Oaths & Statutory Declarations Act. Section 2(1) of the Act provides that the Chief Justice may, by commission signed by him, appoint persons being practising advocates to be commissioners for oaths, and may revoke any such appointment.
It is an offence for a person to hold himself out as a Commissioner for Oaths or to receive any fee or reward as a Commissioner for Oaths unless he has been appointed as such.
Qualifications
Rule 2 of the Oaths and Statutory Declarations Rules provides that “An advocate who has practised in Kenya for not less than three years may apply to the Chief Justice to be appointed a commissioner for oaths.”
Fees
There are no fees payable when applying for appointment as a Commissioner for Oaths. However, a Stamp Duty is payable on the Commission issued by the Chief Justice and the appointment is not effective until this Stamp Duty is paid.
Application & Appointment Process
The application for appointment as a Commissioner for Oaths is made in the form of a Petition addressed to the Chief Justice, using the process below: