Chief Justice Martha Koome has presented a bill in parliament seeking to scrap life sentencing for convicts in Kenya.
In the bill seen by The Kenya Times, the CJ wants the Penal Code amended to cap the number of years in jail for capital offenders at 30 years.
Should the bill sail through, Kenyans convicted for crimes liable to life sentencing would see their jail terms reduced to 30 years.
Koome noted that the section of the penal code stating that a convict should be liable to a “imprisonment for life” would be amended to read “a period not exceeding 30 years”.
In addition, CJ Koome proposed changes in some definitions of terms and language used in the penal code to refer to offenders.
In particular, the CJ wants terms including “insane” deleted, and instead use the phrase “suffering from mental disorder”.
Two categories of murder
Further, the bill proposes the introduction of new categories of murder cases, which would see manslaughter replaced with second degree murder.
In the move seeking to redefine respect of various human rights in Kenyan law, cases of murder would be classified as either first degree or second-degree murder.
Cases such as poisoning, grievous harm, and other deliberate and malicious killings would henceforth fall under first degree murder case should the bill pass and be enacted.
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Additionally, cases such as treason, arson, kidnapping, abduction, torture, burglary, and injuries inflicted through explosives, will also fall under the first-degree murder.
In a nutshell, first degree murder would entail any death caused by malicious and deliberate action.
On the other hand, second degree murder will be cases where a person who through an unlawful act or omission causes death.
These include cases of negligence to discharge duty tending to preservation of life or health, whether or not the omission was deliberate or not.
Martha Koome explains motive behind changes
According to the CJ, the motive behind the proposed amendments is to provide for a human friendly language.
In addition, the CJ wants to shift the burden of proof from the offenders to the prosecution side.
Moreover, the Chief Justice intends to amend the provisions relating to mandatory death penalty in compliance with the judgements of the High Court on the prevailing human rights standards.
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If enacted into law, the amendment will add to the list of recently made changes to the traditional conventions in administration justice.
In a landmark ruling delivered in 2017, the Supreme Court declared Section 204 of the Penal Code, which prescribed a mandatory death sentence, as unconstitutional.
However, the Apex Court noted that the ruling did not in any way affect the validity of the death sentence.
In a meeting held on October 19, Koome submitted the bills to National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula alongside other leaders.
“Presented the draft Penal Code (Amendment) Bill 2023 and Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Bill 2023 to the Speaker of the National Assembly, Hon. Moses Wetangula, marking a significant milestone in our nation’s journey towards criminal justice reform,” she stated.
