Legal Aid Act

35. General principles of legal aid

Edition: 2022-12-31 · In force

35. General principles of legal aid

(1)The Service shall provide legal aid services at the expense of the State to persons who qualify for legal aid services under this Act.

(2)The Service shall provide legal aid services in—

(a)civil matters;

(b)criminal matters;

(c)children matters;

(d)constitutional matters;

(e)matters of public interest; or

(f)any other type of case or type of law that the Service may approve.

(3)Despite subsection (2), the Service shall—

(a)determine the legal needs of indigent persons and of disadvantaged communities in Kenya;

(b)establish priorities for the areas of law, types of proceedings for which it will provide legal aid services; and

(c)formulate policies for the kind of legal aid services to be provided in the different areas of law, types of cases and types of proceedings.

(4)The Service shall establish and administer a cost effective and efficient system for providing high quality legal services within the financial resources available to the Service.

(5)Except as is otherwise provided under this Act—

(a)the assistance or representation through legal aid shall not affect the relationship between the rights of an advocate and a client or any privilege arising out of such relationship; and

(b)the rights conferred by this Act on an aided person shall not affect the rights or liabilities of any other parties to any proceedings or the principles on which the discretion of any court is normally exercised.

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Source: Kenya Law