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Dressing and Addressing the Kenyan Judiciary: Reflecting on the History and Politics of Judicial Attire and Address

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Democracy, Constitutionalism, and Politics in Africa

Part of the book series: Contemporary African Political Economy ((CONTAPE))

Abstract

Aligning judicial culture to the dictates of a transformative constitution is the issue that Willy Mutunga, Kenya’s current Chief Justice and President of the Supreme Court, focuses on in this chapter. Overall, the chapter explores two aspects of feudalist judicial culture: dress and address, which are reflected in the wearing of robes and wigs and the addressing judges as “My Lord or Your Lordship.” Further, it examines the question of access to justice and highlights the contributions of cultural producers to recent processes aimed at decolonizing Kenya’s judicial attire and address.

I would like to acknowledge the previous publication of this chapter, under the same title, in Buffalo Human Rights Law Review, No. 20 (2013): 125–157.

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Mutunga, W. (2017). Dressing and Addressing the Kenyan Judiciary: Reflecting on the History and Politics of Judicial Attire and Address. In: Sahle, E. (eds) Democracy, Constitutionalism, and Politics in Africa. Contemporary African Political Economy. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-55592-2_5

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