Author: NLM Correspondent

BY Newton Arori An order for retrial should only be made where the interests of justice require it and should not be ordered where it is likely to cause injustice to an accused person” – The Court of Appeal in Fatehali Manji v Republic (1966) EA 343. When, in a criminal case, the accused succeeds on appeal and their conviction is set aside, the appellate court may make one of two orders: either to release the accused or to order a retrial at the court where the case was first tried. Under what circumstances is a retrial ordered? While the…

What is it? It is a legal document by which a person, the testator, expresses their wishes as to how their property is to be distributed at death. It includes a name or names of the executor, to manage the estate until its final distribution. Why make one? It gives you control of how your estate will be divided on your death; by appointing an executor, you trust who will divide it. You do not have to be wealth to make a will. If you are working, for instance, you may have a superannuation, with most funds having a default…

By Kennedy Lumwamu In yet another first in Family Law, the Court of Appeal in divorce cause No. 1 of 2000, has provided direction on how to handle marital matters. The Court has rescinded a decision by the High Court which had awarded maintenance costs to a man after he parted ways with his wife in a running divorce case going back to three years ago. It allowed a petition in which the woman had contested a decision by the High Court to have her pay her former husband Sh20,000 maintenance costs per month for the rest of his life.…

By Sunday Memba To determine whether a student of law is worth his salt, teachers of law usually seek to know if the student is familiar with certain elementary cases. Jurists call them locus classicus decisions. These cases include Donoghue v. Stevenson [1932] UKHL 100, Carlill v. Carbolic Smoke Ball Company [1893] 1 QB 256 and Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. (1) 137 (1803). Away from these, Rylands v. Fletcher [1868] UKHL 1 stands out as one of the most celebrated decisions from the House of Lords. It is hard to imagine that the Supreme Court of Kenya can move…

BY Shadrack Muyesu The Law of Succession Act No 14 of 1972 contemplates three ways by which the property of a deceased person may pass to their beneficiaries. Property may pass by dint of a will, survivorship or otherwise, under rules of intestacy – where the deceased left no will or the will left was improper. From the foregoing, a beneficiary is only entitled to what the deceased transmits to them or what the law allows them, never mind, as in the case of a surviving spouse, their contribution to the acquisition of the property in question. In my view,…

BY malusi world From the time of the first industrial revolution that introduced the steam engine to the current revolution that very much revolves around technology in almost every sector, the world is constantly evolving. Thanks to the fourth industrial revolution, the business ecosystem around the globe has changed – for the better might I add – due to the integration of new technologies and the rising interconnection of systems. However, despite Industry 4.0 bringing about opportunities to optimise costs, innovation, diversification and agility, it also brings with it new risks such as cyber-attacks. This is quite the problem, as…

By Victor Adar One of the commonest forms of financial service scams is SIM swap fraud, which over 90% of Kenyan banking leaders identify as an issue for their organisations. When a customer lets their operator know that their SIM card is damaged, lost or stolen, the SIM is deactivated and a new one is issued. Since-last year, incidences of SIM card fraud have risen, perhaps testament to the fact that this recently prevalent crime has gained in the country. In response, although not specifically targeted at this particular crime, government enacted the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act (2018), a…

BY Antony Mutunga In the recently read budget, government well and truly angered Kenyans when it suggested some measures to entrench the feeling that it works against the common man, and to the benefit of the wealthy elites. The tax sector is one of the areas that witnessed many amendments, and left many Kenyans, particularly those in the low earning brackets, feeling that the government was pushing them too hard in finding the money to fund the Big Four Agenda. This is even after the taxpayers have witnessed billions of their money being squandered as a result of corruption, an…

BY Albert Mwazighe For a long time now, our country has experienced the same old cycle of people who, after going to school, start the tedious journey of looking for a job in their field of study. I hold the view that there is no problem with gaining an education; the elephant in the room is the lack of job opportunities for skilled youth! As an about-to-graduate youth, I reflect on the bad year-in-out reality with a heaviness of heart. How can the government, through its Council for Higher Education (CHE), continue to allow the teaching of obsolete courses which…

By TNLM Writer Often, operational investment decisions are the result, at least in part, of the ability to fill needed skill sets from accessible talent pools. As more countries enter the global competition for talent, innovative policies for resolving this tension have emerged, including preferential visa regimes and quota procedures. One region that has tended to lag is Africa. While the free movement of labour is a principle enshrined in certain sub-regional agreements, often it is either not ratified or effectively implemented, while in other parts of Africa obstacles to mobility, even of talented Africans, are prohibitive, time consuming or…