| The maintenance of high professional standards by lawyers in any jurisdiction in the world is partly determined by the quality of an existing Continuing Legal Education (“CLE”) Program. Soceity is dynamic. Accordingly, the Law cannot remain still while society moves on. The idea of a CLE Program is therefore to modernize and professionalize the legal profession by keeping the players therein abreast with the ever changing circumstances and developments affecting the society and the legal profession.
To be effective, a CLE program must inform judges and advocates of new developments both in case law and legislation not just in Kenya, but in other common law jurisdictions and, how these developments affect existing substantive law and legal procedure. Such a program should be practical, training advocates in effective case and office management, which contributes to reduced litigation costs, time saving and as a result, a speedier dispensation of justice. Ultimately, overall efficiency for advocates is achieved. In many countries today, formal CLE programs are in place.
The Law Society of Kenya's Continuing Legal Education Programme has been in full operation for the last three years. The Programme is self financed by registration fees charged on participants of the sessions and administrative support from the Law Society of Kenya.
The Programme rolls out an annual calendar which covers different law topics in the format of seminars, videos and lectures. The sessions are carried out in various towns in the Country and a number of advocates volunteer to present or facilitate at the sessions. The 2007 CLE Calendar has over sixty sessions in seventeen towns in Kenya. Furthermore the Programme rolls out supplementary programmes throughout the year, many of which are organized in partnership with development partners.
The Committee on Continuing Legal Education provides policy direction to the programme and meets monthly to discuss pertinent issues of implementation of the programme. The Committee also accredits other institutions which would like to put on sessions on professional development for lawyers. The Committee has developed guidelines on CLE which ensure the efficient running of the Programme.
Under the Committee’s guidance, the Continuing Legal Education Programme has become, in recent years, an integral aspect of legal practice in Kenya. It is one of the most vibrant programmes of the Law Society of Kenya. This is in line with its vision of structuring the on going training of advocates on the latest developments in the law and acting as a forum for discussion of proposed legislation.
The Committee has two sub-committees: Education Committee and Finance Committee. The Education Subcommittee deals with accreditation matters while the Finance Committee is in charge of budgetary issues.
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