Types of court judgments in Kenya

  

Date Posted: 8/11/2013 11:25:55 PM

Posted By: warira  Membership Level: Gold  Total Points: 1095

---

A judgment is the opinion of the court finally determining all issues in dispute between the parties. It should be pronounced by the judge or the magistrate although in exceptional circumstances a judge of the high court may order the registrar to deliver a judgment. Under the civil procedure rules of 2010 the judgment should be delivered within 60 days of concluding the trial and should be pronounced in open court.
In the legal sense there are four types of judgment due to the varying nature of cases:

FINAL JUDGMENT
This is the one that determines the issues in dispute after hearing the evidence of the parties and their witnesses. In other words it is a judgment on the merits of the case. In exceptional circumstances it is possible to have a final judgment following the rising of a successful preliminary objection.

EX-PARTE JUDGMENT
This is entered when the defense has failed to comply with certain procedural requirements set out in the civil procedure rules and therefore it is not based on merits. An ex-parte judgment may be obtained by the plaintiff against the defendant when the defendant has failed to enter appearance and the defense against him. In such a case the plaintiff is the one who benefits most but it should be noted that it is also fair to the defendant.

SUMMARY JUDGMENT
This type of judgment is requested in cases involving liquidated sums of money. It is based on merits as one may not have to go through a full trial once the important issues have been taken into consideration. In applying for a summary judgment the plaintiff must prove that: there is no issue to tried, secondly that the defendant has no defense and should justify his claim to the relief.

CONSENT JUDGMENT
A consent judgment is entered following the agreement of the

parties of the suit. Once the court order is entered, the judgment has legal effect and the correct order will be enforced as an order of the court. No appeal can lie from a consent judgment unless there are grounds for revoking a contract between parties. Misrepresentation, mistake, undue influence, duress and illegality are the grounds for setting aside a contract between the parties.

---

Next: Kenyans, we need each other for development to take place.
Previous: Let us remember our Kiswahili language