Hon. Mr. Justice Patrick Omwenga Kiage
Born in 1969, Justice Patrick Kiage, studied at Alliance High School for both his Kenya Certificate of Education (KCE) and Kenya Advanced Certificate of Education (KACE) before proceeding to the University of Nairobi for his Bachelor of Laws degree. He undertook his Post Graduate Diploma in Law from the Kenya School of Law in 1992. He is a Master of Laws degree holder from the New York University.
In his private legal practice, Justice Kiage appeared as counsel before all courts including the High Court and the Court of Appeal and handled litigation on behalf of clients in civil, commercial, matrimonial and succession cases. He has 10 years of experience as a criminal defence lawyer with an impressive record of acquittals.
He worked with various law firms starting with Kurgat & Associates before moving on to Nyachae & Company Advocates and later to Kiage & Company Advocates as Sole Proprietor and later as Senior Partner between 1993 and 2007.
He served as Special Prosecuting Counsel with the State Law Office from 2007 until 2012 when he was appointed Judge of Appeal. He was the Attorney General’s Representative to the Technical Committee on the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) Gap Analysis. He chaired the Committee on the Role of Prosecutors in Sentencing and Involvement in Investigations and was member to various committees at State Law Office including the Attorney General’s Office Committee on Witness Protection, among others.
As a consultant between 2001 and 2007, Justice Kiage was a facilitator and a trainer in Alternative Dispute Resolution for Commissioners and Staff of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights on behalf of the Governance, Justice, Law and Order Sector (GJLOS) Reform Programme, among other tasks. He taught Trial Advocacy at the Kenya School of Law, Law at the Kenya Institute of Management and Criminal Procedure and Practice at Catholic University of Eastern Africa.
He is an accomplished writer whose works have been published in both books and journals. He has written and presented papers including one at the Kenya School of Law/Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission training on the Impact of the Constitution in the Criminal Justice System in Kenya titled “Prosecution under the Constitution of Kenya 2010: Implications of the New Constitution”.
He was honoured with the Gandhi Smarak Nidhi Merit Award, Hamilton Harrison and Mathews Award for best final year student – Faculty of Law (1991), Certificate of Appreciation from the Law Society of Kenya for Outstanding Commitment to the Betterment of the Society and its Membership (2002), among other awards.
He is a Council Member of Commonwealth Magistrates and Judges Association, representing the Eastern Africa Region. Justice Kiage is member of the Judiciary Task Force on Sentencing Reform and chairs the Judiciary Security Committee and Sheria Sacco Ltd. Further, he is a member to various professional organizations including the Common Wealth Magistrates and Judges Association, KMJA, International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) – Kenya Section, East Africa Law Society (EALS) and Kituo Cha Sheria Annual General Assembly. Justice Kiage is also the Vice-Chairman of the Adventist Lawyers Association.
As a Judge, Justice Kiage is respected for his deep and exhaustive research and engagement with cited authorities as well as a clear and incisive writing of his judgments.