The Office of the Deputy Chief Justice has partnered with Strathmore Law School and Riara Law School, to start the pilot Prisoners Legal Awareness Clinic (PLAC) Project, under the docket Decongestion of Prisons and Related Welfare Aspects of the Prisoners. The objective of this project is to bridge the procedural knowledge gap for remandees, particularly those who are unrepresented, in order to enhance their knowledge on the criminal justice process and the rights that are relevant to them. This project will be implemented by the students within Nairobi County.

 

The first stage of the program took part between 10th and 17th of June 2015, whereby, students received training on how to simplify the criminal procedure particularly the court process, from experts in this field. They developed a simplified simulation and narration of the court trial process which will be presented before remandees in the Lang’ata Women’s Prisons and Nairobi Medium Prisons.

 

Kalpana Hasmukhrai Rawal, the Deputy Chief Justice, visited the university and gave constructive criticism on how to improve the presentation as well as comending the students on a job well done. Representatives from the Kenya Prisons Service and Legal Resources Foundation shared their knowledge on what to expect during the prisons visit as well as how to make practical simulations so as to ensure that the message they seek to relay is clearly articulated.

 

Other universities participating in this pilot project include Moi Univeersity Eldoret and Nairobi University Mombasa. The hope of the pilot project is to ensure that it continues annually over a larger scope, so as to ensure that more remandees are aware of the court trial processes and their rights.