Lawyers' professional privileges and immunity do not extend beyond the accountability line, the High Court has ruled.
While dismissing a case filed by the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) against the Director of Public Prosecutions, Inspector General of Police, Director of Criminal Investigations and Attorney General, Justice Lawrence Mugambi said that lawyers must account for their actions while practising law.
According to Justice Mugambi, it would be an abuse of the law and the Constitution to give lawyers blanket and absolute immunity, unless there is clear evidence that the DPP is not acting within the prosecutorial powers given to him. "In my view, the privilege accorded to advocates is subject to the law and the Constitution.
It is not meant to protect them from accountability and would thus not be cited to curtail the powers of the first respondent under Article 157(4), (6), (10) and (11) of the Constitution unless it can be demonstrated that the same are being abused," said Justice Mugambi.
