Nairobi — Lady Justice Aroni Abida Ali has defended herself from claims of being temperamental, when she appeared before the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) where she was being interviewed for a position of the Court Appeal Judge.

Justice Aroni on Tuesday told the panel that she is calm and firm and expressed surprise that some people viewed her as temperamental.

She was responding to questions raised by the panel, who said they had received complaints about her being temperamental in court.

"Being judged as being temperamental I think it's unfair. I am a calm person, down to earth and extremely humble as a person and as a judge," stated Justice Aroni.

She also defended herself on instance where she fined a lawyer in Kisumu, saying the lawyer was rude in court.

She however acknowledged that she has grown over the years in her career as a judge, saying if the incident happened today she would not have fined him.

"He was extremely rude to the court and I fined him Sh15,000, and that's 10 years down the line, and over the years I have grown in my progression as a judge and if it happened today I would have let go," she stated.

The panel also put Aroni to task to explain the issue of delayed rulings, saying they had also received complaints over the same.

The complaints had been put forward by lawyers.

"I have worked very hard and as we speak today I don't have pending matters," she said.

Justice Aroni was the 7th candidate to appear before the Commission since the interviews seeking to hire six Court of Appeal Judges commenced on Monday.

Also interviewed on Tuesday include Justice Abuodha Jorum Nelson and Lady Justice Achode Lydia Awino.

Those interviewed on Monday were Ndegwa Paul Wamuti, PhD, a lecturer at the University of Nairobi, Justice Nduma Nderi, judge of the Employment Labour Relations Court, Justice Jairus Ngaah and Justice Ngenye Grace Wangui, both judges of the High Court since 2012.