Section 17 of Advocates Act CAP 16: Senior Counsel
(1) The President may grant a letter of conferment to any person of irreproachable professional conduct who has rendered exemplary service to the legal and public service in Kenya conferring upon him the rank and dignity of Senior Counsel.
(2) A person shall not be eligible to be a Senior Counsel unless—
(a) he is a duly enrolled advocate of the High Court of not less than fifteen years’ standing; or
(b) being a person to whom section 10 applies, he holds, and has held for a continuous period of not less than fifteen years, one or other of the qualifications specified in section 13(1).
(3) The grant shall be made not later than sixty days upon receipt of a list of names submitted by the Committee on Senior Counsel through the Chief Justice.
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- Section 18 - Roll of Senior Counsel
(1) Upon the commencement of this Act, the Registrar shall cause to be prepared, and shall thereafter maintain, a Roll of Advocates having the rank of the Senior Counsel (hereinafter called “the Roll...
- Section 19 - Application of Part XI
In the application of Part XI to Senior Counsel—
(a) all references therein to the Disciplinary Committee shall be construed as references to a Committee of three, to be appointed in each case by...
- Section 20 - Precedence
The Attorney-General, the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Solicitor General, Senior Counsel or Queen’s Counsel according to the date of their appointment as such, the chairman and the...
- Section 21 - Registrar to issue practising certificates
The Registrar shall issue in accordance with, but subject to, this Part and any rules made under this Act certificates authorizing the advocates named therein to practise as advocates.
- Section 22 - Application for and issue of practising certificate
(1) Application for a practising certificate shall be made to the Registrar—
(a) by delivering to him an application in duplicate, signed by the
applicant specifying his name and place of...
- Section 23 - Issue of practising certificate to confer membership of Society
(1) Every advocate to whom a practising certificate is issued under this Part shall thereupon and without payment of any further fee, subscription, election, admission or appointment, and...
- Section 24 - Date and validity of practising certificate
(1) Every practising certificate shall bear the date of the day on which it is issued and shall have effect from the beginning of that day:
Provided that a practising certificate which is issued...
- Section 25 - Discretion of Registrar to issue practising certificate in special cases
(1) Subject to subsection (3) and to section 28(5), subsection (2) shall have effect where an advocate applies for a practising certificate—
(a) when for twelve months or more he has ceased to hold...
- Section 26 - Appeals in connection with issue of practising certificate
(1) If in any case, not being a case to which section 25 applies, the Registrar on an application duly made to him refuses or neglects to issue a practising certificate the applicant may apply to the...
- Section 27 - Suspension of practising certificate in certain circumstances
The making by the Disciplinary Committee or the Court of an order suspending an advocate from practice shall operate, and the adjudication in bankruptcy of an advocate shall operate immediately, to...
- Section 28 - Duration of suspension of practising certificate
(1) Subject to this section, where a practising certificate has become suspended by an order under section 26(2) or by virtue of section 27, that suspension shall continue until the certificate...
- Section 29 - Publication of suspension or termination of suspension of practising certificate in certain cases
Where an advocate’s practising certificate has become suspended—
(a) by an order under section 26(2); or
(b) by virtue of section 27 by reason of his adjudication in bankruptcy, the Registrar...
- Section 30 - Evidence as to holding of practising certificate
(1) Any list purporting to be published by authority of the Registrar and to contain the names of advocates who have obtained practising certificates for the current year before the 1st February in...
- Section 31 - Unqualified person not to act as advocate
(1) Subject to section 83, no unqualified person shall act as an advocate, or as such cause any summons or other process to issue, or institute, carry on or defend any suit or other proceedings in the...
- Section 32 - Qualification for practice on own behalf
(1) Notwithstanding that an advocate has been issued with a practising certificate under this Act, he shall not engage in practice on his own behalf either full-time or part time unless he has...
- Section 32A - Employment as in-house Advocate
(1) A person who is qualified to act as an advocate under this Act may be employed as an in-house advocate.
(2) A person who is employed as an in-house advocate shall—
(a) be an independent...
- Section 32B - Standards of work and remuneration
(1) The Chief Justice shall, on the recommendation of the Council of the Society, prescribe—
(a) the standards of work that may be performed by a person employed as an in-house advocate under this...
- Section 33 - Penalty for pretending to be advocate
Any unqualified person who wilfully pretends to be, or takes or uses any name, title, addition or description implying that he is, qualified or recognized by law as qualified to act as an advocate...
- Section 34 - Unqualified person not to prepare certain documents or instruments
(1) No unqualified person shall, either directly or indirectly, take instructions or draw or prepare any document or instrument— (a) relating to the conveyancing of property; or
(b) for, or in...
- Section 35 - Instruments to be endorsed with name and address of drawer
(1) Every person who draws or prepares, or causes to be drawn or prepared, any document or instrument referred to in section 34 (1) shall at the same time endorse or cause to be endorsed thereon his...
- Section 36 - Undercutting
(1) Any advocate who holds himself out or allows himself to be held out, directly or indirectly and whether or not by name, as being prepared to do professional business at less than the remuneration...
- Section 37 - Sharing profits
Any advocate who agrees to share his profits in respect of any professional business, whether contentious or non-contentious, with any person not being an advocate or other duly qualified legal...
- Section 38 - Touts
(1) Any unqualified person who, in consideration of any payment or other advantage to himself or any other person, procures or attempts to procure the employment of an advocate as such in any suit or...
- Section 39 - Advocate not to act as agent for unqualified person
Any advocate who acts as agent in any suit, or in any matter in bankruptcy, for any unqualified person, or permits his name, or that of any firm of which he is a partner, to be made use of in any such...
- Section 40 - No costs recoverable where unqualified person acts as advocate
No costs in respect of anything done by an unqualified person in contravention of this Part shall be recoverable in any suit or matter by any person.
- Section 41 - Employment by advocate of persons struck-off the Roll or suspended
(1) No advocate shall, in connection with his practice as an advocate, without the written permission of the Council of the Society, which may be given for such period and subject to such conditions...
- Section 42 - Penalty for failure to disclose fact of having been struck-off, etc.
(1) Any person who, whilst he is disqualified from practising as an advocate by reason of the fact that he has been struck off the Roll, otherwise than at his own request, or is suspended from...
- Section 43 - Offences by bodies corporate
(1) If any act is done by a body corporate or by any director, officer or servant thereof, of such a nature or in such a manner as to be calculated to imply that the body corporate is qualified, or...
- Section 44 - Chief Justice may make orders prescribing remuneration
(1) The Council of the Society may make recommendation to the Chief Justice on all matters relating to the remuneration of advocates, and the Chief Justice, having considered the same, may by order,...
- Section 45 - Agreements with respect to remuneration
(1) Subject to section 46 and whether or not an order is in force under section 44, an advocate and his client may—
(a) before, after or in the course of any contentious business, make an...
- Section 46 - Invalid agreements
Nothing in this Act shall give validity to—
(a) any purchase by an advocate of the interest, or any part of the interest, of his client in any suit or other contentious proceeding; or
(b) any...
- Section 47 - Power of court to order advocate to deliver his bill and to deliver up deed
(1) The jurisdiction of the Court to make orders for the delivery by an advocate of a bill of costs, and for the delivery up of or otherwise in relation to, any deeds, documents or papers in his...
- Section 48 - Action for recovery of costs
(1) Subject to this Act, no suit shall be brought for the recovery of any costs due to an advocate or his firm until the expiry of one month after a bill for such costs, which may be in summarized...
- Section 49 - Procedure in action where quantum of costs is challenged by defence
Where, in the absence of an agreement for remuneration made by virtue of section 45, a suit has been brought by an advocate for the recovery of any costs and a defence is filed disputing the...
- Section 50 - Taxation on application of third parties, beneficiaries under trust, etc.
(1) Where a person other than the person who is the party chargeable with a bill of costs is liable to pay the bill either to the advocate or to the party chargeable with the bill, or where a person...
- Section 51 - General provisions as to taxation
(1) Every application for an order for the taxation of an advocate’s bill or for the delivery of such a bill and the delivering up of any deeds, documents and papers by an advocate shall be made in...
- Section 52 - Charging orders
Any court in which an advocate has been employed to prosecute or defend any suit or matter may at any time declare the advocate entitled to a charge on the property recovered or preserved through his...
- Section 53 - Establishment of Complaints Commission
(1) There is hereby established a Complaints Commission (in this Part referred to as “the Commission”) which shall consist of such commissioner or commissioners as shall be appointed by the President...
- Section 53A - Remuneration of Commissioner
(1) There shall be paid to the Commissioner such remuneration by way of salary, allowance, pension or gratuity as shall be determined by the President.
(2) The remuneration referred to in subsection...
- Section 54 - Secretary and staff of Commission and rules relating thereto
(1) There shall be a secretary to the Commission who shall be appointed by the Attorney-General.
(2) The Attorney-General shall provide such public officers as are necessary for the proper and...
- Section 55 - Advocates to be officers of Court
Every advocate and every person otherwise entitled to act as an advocate shall be an officer of the Court and shall be subject to the jurisdiction thereof and, subject to this Act, to the jurisdiction...
- Section 56 - Savings of disciplinary powers of Court
Nothing in this Act shall supersede, lessen or interfere with the powers vested in the Chief Justice or any of the judges of the Court to deal with misconduct or offences by an advocate, or any person...
- Section 57 - Establishment of Disciplinary Tribunal
(1) There is established a tribunal to be known as the Disciplinary Tribunal (in this Part referred to as “the Tribunal”) which shall consist of—
(a) the Attorney-General;
(aa) the Director of...
- Section 58 - Proceedings of Tribunal
(1) The Tribunal may, subject to subsection (2), act as a tribunal of either three or five members, and may require the chairman or vice-chairman of the Society or both or any other member of the...
- Section 58A - Establishment of Regional Disciplinary Committees
(1) There are hereby established Disciplinary Committees (in this Part referred to as “Regional Committees”) in five representative regions, other than Nairobi, identified by the society.
(2) Each...
- Section 59 - Application for removal of name from the Roll
(1) An advocate may make an application to the Tribunal to procure his name to be removed from the Roll.
(2) On the hearing of an application under subsection (1), the Tribunal may make an order...
- Section 60 - Complaints against advocates
(1) A complaint against an advocate of professional misconduct, which expression includes disgraceful or dishonourable conduct incompatible with the status of an advocate, may be made to the Tribunal...
- Section 60A - Hearing of complaints
(1) The powers conferred on the Committee by this section may be exercised on the hearing of—
(a) any application or complaint made to the Committee under this Act by or on behalf of the Council;...
- Section 61 - Reports by Tribunal and action thereon
(1) On the termination of the hearing of a complaint, if the Tribunal does not dismiss the same, the Tribunal shall embody its findings and the order or orders made by it in the form of a report to...
- Section 62 - Appeal against order of Tribunal
(1) Any advocate aggrieved by order of the Tribunal made under section 60 may, within fourteen days after the receipt by him of the notice to be given to him pursuant to section 61(2), appeal against...