The High Court has dismissed a preliminary objection by the Law Society of Kenya (LSK), allowing a constitutional petition challenging the Society’s targeted boycott of selected judges and judicial officers to proceed on its merits on its merits.
Justice David Mburu dismissed the objection after finding that LSK’s internal dispute resolution mechanisms could not adequately address the constitutional questions raised in the petition. He directed that the petition and a Notice of Motion dated July 24, 2026, proceed to determination.
The petition was filed by lawyer Dr Adrian Kamotho Njenga, who is challenging a series of LSK resolutions and communications relating to a nationwide court boycott announced on July 22 and a subsequent indefinite targeted boycott involving specified judges and judicial officers.
Under the targeted boycott, advocates appearing before the affected judicial officers were directed to seek adjournments, transfers of cases or recusal. The measures also directed the affected judges and judicial officers to deliver pending rulings and judgments but not preside over fresh hearings.
Njenga challenged the measures on constitutional grounds, including their effect on access to justice, legal representation and the ability of judges and judicial officers to discharge their functions.
LSK opposed the petition through a preliminary objection, arguing that Njenga should first have exhausted the dispute resolution mechanisms provided under Regulations 95 and 96 of the Law Society of Kenya (General) Regulations, 2020. The Society argued that the mechanisms include negotiation, conciliation, mediation and arbitration for disputes involving the Society, its members and its governance functions.
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LSK therefore argued that the High Court had been moved prematurely and lacked jurisdiction to hear the petition before those mechanisms were exhausted. Justice Mburu rejected that argument, finding that the dispute went beyond an ordinary disagreement between the Society and one of its members.
“The Petition, as pleaded, does not merely concern the Petitioner’s individual rights as a member of the Law Society of Kenya,” the court said.
The judge held that the petition raises questions concerning constitutional rights, judicial independence and the administration of justice, placing it within the High Court’s jurisdiction under Article 165. He found that an arbitrator under Regulation 96 could neither determine those constitutional questions nor grant the full range of remedies sought.
He also rejected LSK’s argument that the dispute was an internal governance matter, holding that whether the Society’s actions were within its statutory mandate required consideration of the substance and effect of the challenged resolutions and communications.
The court also declined to determine Njenga’s application for conservatory orders through the preliminary objection. The judge said questions such as whether the petitioner had established a prima facie case, demonstrated prejudice, shown that the petition could be rendered nugatory, and established that the public interest favoured interim relief would require evidence and the exercise of judicial discretion.
The latest ruling does not determine whether LSK’s targeted boycott is constitutional or lawful. Instead, the petition and the related application will proceed to consideration on their respective merits.
The case follows interim orders issued by Justice Mburu on August 3 restraining LSK from disrupting or interfering with proceedings before the judges and judicial officers named in its July 20 communication, as well as proceedings before other judges and judicial officers.
The orders were issued while the court considered LSK’s preliminary objection challenging its jurisdiction to hear Njenga’s petition. Following the dismissal of the objection, the court extended the interim protection while parties addressed the pending application and the substantive petition.
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