Nairobi — The Supreme Court has declined a suit by President-Elect William Ruto opposing the Law Society of Kenya's (LSK) application to be enjoined in the Presidential petitions whose status conference is set for Tuesday.

Ruto in his petition stated that the LSK cannot be neutral in the matter as Martha Karua, who is a petitioner, is its member and also a former leader.

The society had filed an application to be joined in the petition as amicus curiae, saying it has the expertise to help the apex court reach a fair decision.

In allowing the LSK application, the seven-judge bench of the Supreme Court noted that they "will not make oral submissions and shall rely solely on its written brief."

In their brief, the Eric Theuri led body will address three key questions; meaning and utility of the standard of proof in election petitions, interpretation of Article 86 and 138(4) (a) and (b) on the meaning of "all the votes cast" and the interpretation of Article 138 (3) (c) and 10 on the respective roles of the IEBC Commission and its chairperson in presidential elections.

Article 86 and Article 138 of the 2010 Constitution are on voting and procedure in presidential elections respectively.

Article 138 (3) (c) states "after counting the votes in the polling stations, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission shall tally and verify the count and declare the results.

It further states "(4) A candidate shall be declared elected as President if the candidate receives (a) more than half of all the votes cast in the election; and (b) at least twenty-five per cent of the votes cast in each of more than half of the counties."

The LSK indicates that if admitted as Amicus, the court would benefit from hearing and querying well-informed views from it as it comes from a position of neutrality and fidelity to the law.