Supreme court Judges (from left) Njoki Ndung'u, Jackton Ojwang, Philomena Mwilu, David Maraga, Mohammed Ibrahim, Smoking Wanjala and Isaac Lenaola. [Photo: The Judiciary]The seven Supreme Court judges have until Friday (tomorrow) to decide the petition filed by Opposition Leader Raila Odinga in the August 8 election.The process involves writing a lengthy judgment which Chief Justice David Maraga acknowledged on Tuesday evening after the close of submission hearings. He said the judges did not have the luxury of time because the hard task of writing their decision begins.However, the Nation reports,  a team of about 40 people among them 18 legal researchers, has been assisting the judges to carry out a number of duties, since the petition was filed on August 18.The team of researchers is divided into various thematic areas that include the introduction, history, issues raised in the petition, and the law.These researchers come up with a report on each area which is given to the respective judge.After the teams complete this work, it is condensed into one document and shared among all the seven judges, who then retreat to their chambers and dictate to the secretaries whatever additional information they have.The judges could decide to share the task of writing the judgment according to same issues or thematic areas, so that one judge writes about ICT, another about the alleged abuse of office and how it affected the outcome of the poll, the security features of results forms, security of ballot papers, and so on. All these reports will be circulated among the judges for comments and additions.Depending on the length of the judgment, which could run into tens of pages, the judges might read it in turn, with Chief Justice Maraga concluding and delivering the final orders of the court.

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