On 1st July 2021, In the case of Henry Aming’a Nyabere V DPP (2021) eKLR, at Nakuru High court, a landmark ruling was delivered by learned Judge Hon. Prof Joel Ngugi on the propriety of charging Advocates in criminal suits for doing their work.
The learned Judged observed that it was readily obvious that the applicant was being targeted because of his work as a lawyer for his client in his capacity as an advocate. The court observed that the DPP did not make allegations that the Applicant somehow trembled the lawyer-client relationship into a forbidden zone. The court noted that such a prosecution was definitionally prejudicial to the Applicant and inimical to public interest. The court was quick to point out that this was not in any way to suggest that Advocates are presumptively immunized from prosecution before scrutiny by the courts.
The court insisted on the sacred and important role played by lawyers in Constitutional democracies and dangers involved in unfairly identifying them with their clients causes.
The court said that the prosecution of lawyers for their advocacy work on behalf of their clients is one of the surest ways of sifting a vibrant democracy and that it’s inimical effects on the society cannot be overemphasized. The judge also emphasized that the prosecutor needs to demonstrate to the court that the (Lawyer) traveled outside his remit as a lawyer to facilitate a crime or show that the intended prosecution is unrelated to his work as a lawyer. But before then, it is prudent for the court to act with abundance of caution to protect the sacred lawyer-client relationship.