Kenya ordered the closure of courtrooms to the public in April in keeping with government measures to limit gatherings and mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Chief Justice David Maraga highlighted the risk posed by heavy human traffic. He also pleaded the case that most judicial officers are older, and therefore fall into a more vulnerable category.
With judicial services scaled down, priority was given to applications that the courts deemed to be urgent. The immediate result was that those who couldn't demonstrate urgency could not access the court system. Access to justice was also impeded by rolling curfews imposed to limit the spread of COVID-19.
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