Chief Justice David Maraga's courts have been called out for alleged incompetence, a move that could elicit a sharp debate among members of the bar and the bench.
Zahir Malik, 90, the oldest lawyer in the profession, believes standards of practising law have diminished over the years, adding that unnecessary backlog of cases has ruined Judiciary's reputation.
Malik was first admitted to the bar in 1955 and has since served under 19 Chief Justices. He was LSK chairman in 1972 and 73 when lawyer James Orengo was about to graduate.
His family’s law firm, A.H. Malik & Company Advocates, is also one of the oldest regionally, having been started by his father, also a lawyer, in 1946. The firm specialises in commercial law, property law and conveyance.
‘‘It is more difficult to be a lawyer today than it was when I started out,’’ said Malik. ‘‘There also isn’t much discipline in the profession and within the judicial system today,’’ he adds.
According to him, the delay of delivery of judgments is a result of internal sabotage which ought to be addressed. He wondered why Judges keep on differing cases.
‘‘If a case has been heard and proceedings concluded, it doesn’t make sense to defer judgment for months. Why would anyone push judgment for up to four months? Whose interest does this serve?’’
The nonagenarian, who still practices, asks young lawyers to put Justice first before money for them to flourish in the profession.
“Your ambition should be to excel in your work and to facilitate justice. The trend today is that our young lawyers chase money without due regard for justice for the parties they are representing,’’ he laments.
Recently, CJ Maraga warned about a possible backlog of cases when Treasury slashed Judiciary's budget by Sh3 billion.