Law students have announced a protest at the Council of Legal Education offices on July 10 over delayed bar admissions and other unresolved issues. The students accuse the institution of continually delaying the progression of their cases, despite interventions by the president of the Law Society of Kenya, Faith Odhiambo.
Student Frustrations
The students accuse the CLE of willfully lowering their test scores and delaying admissions. There is frustration on social media; one student wrote on X, “If the bar is full they should tell us.” Another said, “We reject results published. How come marks are same as previous?”
CLE’s Recent Announcement
The CLE has recently announced through a statement, the release of April 2024 results of Advocates Training Programme examination, asking candidates to log in to the CLE portal for their results, and any inquiries were to be submitted through the examinations email address provided. Students were, however, not satisfied with the process nor, for that matter, the outcomes.
Mediation Efforts
Faith Odhiambo, who has since tried to mediate between the students and the CLE, met with the student representatives yesterday. Participating in the student discussion on X, she confirmed that the CLE had successfully uploaded the revised examination results for April 2024. “She said, “I have met the Chairman of the CLE, and the two major issues are being addressed.” Odhiambo also revealed that a task force set up by the CLE Council is currently reviewing issues relating to examination management and will soon start consultations with students to talk about possible reforms leading to increased transparency and openness.
Historical Challenges and Allegations
Student unrest mirrors a wider trend of challenges that CLE has gone through. The acting CEO, Mary Mugure, resigned last year just 48 hours after staff declared a strike over allegations of financial mismanagement by the senior management. Staff discontent arose over accusations that the leadership spent money suspiciously and leaked examination papers to some candidates—a factor attributed to the integrity problem of the CLE examination procedures.
The Role of the CLE
The Council of Legal Education oversees the implementation of the Advocates Training Programme and organizes courses aimed at advancing professional development amongst legal practitioners in Kenya. The council is supervising the Kenya School of Law that provides practical oriented training for lawyers and other legal professionals.
Ongoing Challenges
Given the spate of allegations and challenges which CLE has continuously faced, many questions have been raised regarding the capacity and it’s authority to ensure that examination procedures are fair and transparent. The students demanded timely admission and transparent scoring as the core reasons for the current unrest, meaning there is a great need for substantial reforms within the CLE.