Appeal Court Confirms Mandatory Law Society of Kenya (LSK) Membership for Lawyers
The Court of Appeal has ruled that all lawyers in Kenya must continue being registered members of the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) if they want to legally practice law in the country.
This decision came on Friday, July 25, after the court dismissed an appeal from an advocate who had challenged the constitutionality of the Advocates Act.
The lawyer who filed the appeal argued that being forced to join the LSK violated Article 36 of the Constitution, which grants every citizen the freedom to associate or not to associate with any organization. However, the Court of Appeal found no legal basis to support the claim and upheld the earlier decision by the High Court.
Back in March 2019, the High Court had already thrown out the same petition, stating that the petitioner had failed to prove how the law was unconstitutional or how it went against the rights guaranteed in the Bill of Rights. The Court of Appeal agreed with this reasoning and concluded that the appeal lacked substance.
“The High Court judge rightly ruled that the petitioners did not prove that the challenged provisions of the law were unconstitutional or that they infringed on any rights under the Constitution,” the Court of Appeal stated.
“For these reasons, we find the appeal lacks merit. It is hereby dismissed. However, since the matter touches on public interest, there will be no order on legal costs,” the court added.
In Kenya, registering with the LSK is mandatory for all practicing advocates. This requirement helps maintain professional standards, ensures ethical behavior, and confirms that advocates meet the qualifications needed to serve the public properly. Clients can trust that lawyers registered with the LSK are properly trained and qualified.
This ruling comes as the LSK intensifies its campaign to weed out fake lawyers who are practicing without proper registration. On June 5, the LSK, working together with law enforcement agencies, arrested five individuals in Bungoma County who had been illegally operating law firms for more than a decade.
According to LSK’s Steve Mbugua, the suspects had opened four unauthorized law offices and had been tricking local residents into giving them money in the name of legal services. These fake law firms had been operating since 2013.
During the operation, LSK officials recovered crucial documents, including files from ongoing court cases that were being handled by the imposters.
“These individuals were running four separate illegal law firms and scamming the public. Unfortunately, they’ve been active since 2013. We’ve found they’ve defrauded innocent people of millions of shillings,” Mbugua revealed.
The court ruling now reinforces the importance of LSK membership and supports the society’s ongoing efforts to clean up the legal profession and protect Kenyans from being exploited by fraudsters pretending to be lawyers.
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