Peter Mwaura
12 July 2008
Nairobi — Do our judges need the archaic titles and honorifics that they bestow on themselves so as to be respected? Is respect bestowed by honorifics?
Former High Court judge Richard Kuloba correctly observes that for judges to insist on being addressed by their correct titles "adds neither dignity nor illumination to the proceedings in the case".
And do all the men and women who expect to be addressed by the pompous titles deserve the respect implied by the titles?
Even more important, Justice Kuloba notes in Courts of Justice in Kenya that the public is dismally lost when it comes to addressing judges by their correct titles and honorifics.
He recalls a woman from Mombasa who invariably kept on addressing a magistrate as "My Dear Worship" and a woman lecturer from Kenyatta University who called the magistrate "My Learned Friend".
And a pastor who kept on addressing a magistrate as "My Right Honourable Lord", while a desperate bride-to-be gasped with joyous thanks to 'His Majesty the Magistrate'.
A first-year law student addressed one magistrate as "The Most Honourable Lord Magistrate".
Some judges and magistrates get hot under the collar if they are addressed wrongly. Still, the public ignorance of the judicial nomenclature, conventions and etiquette remains widespread.
Right here I have given Justice Kuloba an incomplete and therefore strictly speaking inaccurate title.
According to the Judiciary, his proper honorific is The Honourable Mr Justice Richard Kuloba. You can abbreviate the Honourable to "Hon." but the definite article "The" is a must.
But that raises another question: Should retired judges continue to be called The Hon. Mr So-and-So?
The court address system is a complex and confusing system of titles and honorifics.
Justice Kuloba recalls some of the many ridiculous and comical names that judges and magistrates are called by members of the public, such as "Your Lordship", "Your Worship", "Your Highness", "Your Excellency", "My Lord the Most Worshipful", "Your Highness", "Most Honourable", and "Your Majesty".
I might also add to his repertoire the case of a woman lawyer who genuflects every time she meets a judge or magistrate in church.
Many advocates and state counsel are also bewildered and intimidated about the correct way to address judges or magistrates.
The way we are supposed to address judges and magistrates is based on the rules governing the British system of aristocracy, which was adopted by the English judicial system.
"My Lord" or "Your Ladyship" is used to address British persons of noble or chivalrous rank. The honorifics are supposed to confer or show respect or honour.
It is not surprising that British courts continue to use the honorifics. Members of the British aristocracy - the House of Lords - are judges.
It all goes back to King Henry II who laid the foundation for the common law system that replaced the old system of justice based on different customs by feudal and county courts.
His reforms in the 12th century led to the creation of a unified legal framework. But citizens were still expected to treat judges as if they were feudal lords and address them with titles such as "Milord" and "Your Lordship."
But why are we are still using those archaic and feudal titles when addressing our judges and magistrates? The titles suggest judges and magistrates are socially superior.
Such honorifics as "Your Lordship" reflect feudalism and class privilege. The titles are pompous and out of step with the sense of justice and egalitarianism.
The titles are outmoded and many common law countries have outgrown them. Countries such as the United States, Canada, Australia and South Africa have discarded them.
In 1995, South Africa dropped both "My Lord" and "Your Honour". South African lawyers were directed to restrict themselves to using "Mr Justice." In the United States, a judge is addressed simply as judge-so-and-so.
We are out of our depth when it comes to court honorifics. The only titles many of us readily embrace are honorifics such as "Mheshimiwa", "Mwalimu", "Mzee", "Mama".
So why do we insist on archaic British honorifics? Why can't we simply call our judges "Sir" or "Madam" or their Swahili equivalent?
If the Judiciary insists on the British etiquette, it should at least issue clear guidelines for the benefit of the public on how to address judges and magistrates correctly.
That would save some of us from making such monumental blunders as addressing the Hon. Lady Justice Mary Ang'awa as "The Hon. Miss Justice Mary Ang'awa". Women judges are Mrs Justice So-and-So, regardless of marital status.
Better still, the Chief Justice, The Hon. Mr Justice J.E. Gicheru, should expand his uncompleted 2003 judicial surgery to abolish these unnecessary accoutrements whose only effect is to mystify the Judiciary, intimidate the general public, and lead judges and magistrates to delusions of grandeur and megalomania.
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