Issue

Vol. 48 No. 4 (2023): Africa Development

2 - Corruption and Human Rights: Positioning Judicial Activism as an Anticorruption Strategy in Kenya

https://doi.org/10.57054/ad.v48i4.5573
Ngira David Otieno
Regional Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Researcher, Amnesty International

Corresponding Author(s) : Ngira David Otieno

otienongira@gmail.com

Africa Development, Vol. 48 No. 4 (2023): Africa Development

Abstract

This article locates the conceptual foundations of corruption and human rights by examining the normative and definitional challenges of these terms. By focusing on socioeconomic rights and the principle of equality in access to public services, the paper demonstrates the implications of corruption for the realisation of human rights. It then examines how the thin and thick conceptions of the rule of law interact with corruption. The article further explores legal corruption and the mechanisms by which graft corrupts the law-making process and compromises the rule of law. At the same time, the paper studies the role of judicial activism in fighting institutionalised and legal corruption in Kenya. In conclusion, it maintains that public interest and human rights considerations should be central to the law-making and interpretation processes. To effectively deal with corruption, activist judges should pursue the ends of justice rather than the law in the case of conflict between the two.

Keywords

corruption human rights judicial activism neopatrimonialism rule of law
[1]
Otieno, N.D. 2024. 2 - Corruption and Human Rights: Positioning Judicial Activism as an Anticorruption Strategy in Kenya. Africa Development. 48, 4 (May 2024). DOI:https://doi.org/10.57054/ad.v48i4.5573.
Download Citation
Endnote/Zotero/Mendeley (RIS)
BibTeX
References
  1. Africa Development Bank Group (AfDB), 2010, Domestic Resource Mobilization for Poverty Reduction in East Africa: Kenya Case Study, 31. www.afdb.org/fileadmin/uploads/afdb/Documents/Project-and-Operations/Kenya%20Case%20Study_final.pdf Accessed 15 June 2020.
  2. Afrobarometer, 2021, Overwhelming majority of Kenyans see corruption in the judiciary, Afrobarometer survey shows, Afrobarometer, 26 November. https://www.afrobarometer.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/news_release-overwhelming_majority_of_kenyans_see_corruption_in_the_judiciary-afrobarometer-bh-25nov21.pdf
  3. Agbiboa, D., and Maiangwa, B., 2012, 'Corruption in the Underdevelopment of the Niger Delta in Nigeria', The Journal of Pan African Studies, Vol. 5, No. 8, p. 108. www.jpanafrican.org/docs/vol5no8/5.8Corruption.pdf. Accessed 15 May 2020.
  4. Akech, M., 2011, 'Abuse of Power and Corruption in Kenya: Will the New Constitution Enhance Government Accountability?' Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies, Vol. 18, No. 1., pp. 341–394.
  5. Allan J., 2015, 'The Activist Judge – Vanity of Vanities', in La Torre, M. ed., An Interdisciplinary Approach to the American and European Experiences, Cham: Springer, pp. 83–85.
  6. Appolloni, A., and Nshombo, J.-M., 2014, 'Public Procurement and Corruption in Africa: A Literature Review', in Decarolis, F. and Frey, M. eds, Public Procurement’s Place in the World. Central Issues in Contemporary Economic Theory and Policy, London: Palgrave Macmillan.
  7. Ayee, J., 2000, 'Ghana: The Continuing Search for Cures in the Fight Against Corruption', in Hope, R. and Chikulo, B. eds, Corruption and Development in Africa, Cham: Springer, p. 186.
  8. Baghwati P., 1985, 'Judicial Activism and Public Interest Litigation in India', Columbia Journal of Transnational Law, Vol. 23, pp. 561–564.
  9. Brooks, G., Walsh, D., Lewis, C., and Kim, H. eds., 2003, Preventing Corruption: Investigation, Enforcement and Management, London: Palgrave Macmillan, p. 12.
  10. Brytting, T., Minogue, R., and Morino, V., 2011, The Anatomy of Fraud and Corruption: Organizational Causes and Remedies, Aldershot: Gower Publishers, pp. 5–6.
  11. Campbell T., 2002, Judicial Activism – Justice or Treason?’ Working Paper Number 17, Centre for Applied Philosophy and Ethics, University of Melbourne. apo.org.au/sites/default/files/resource-files/2002-09/apo-nid2646.pdf. Accessed 14 June 2020.
  12. Cane, P., 2010, The Hart-Fuller Debate in the Twenty-First Century, Camden: Bloomsbury Publishing.
  13. Carothers, T., 1998, 'The Rule of Law Revival', Foreign Affairs, Vol. 77, No. 2, pp. 95–106. https://doi.org/10.2307/20048791.
  14. Car thers, T., 2003, Promoting the Rule of Law Abroad – The problem of knowledge, Washington DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
  15. Coutinho, L. Pereira, La Torre, M., and Smith, S. D., 2015, Between Nightmare and Noble Dream: Judicial Activism and Legal Theory in Vanities, in La Torre, M. ed., An Interdisciplinary Approach to the American and European Experiences, Cham: Springer, p. 3.
  16. Damania, R., Fredriksson, P. G., and Mani, M., 2004, 'The Persistence of Corruption and Regulatory Compliance Failures: Theory and Evidence', Public Choice, Vol. 121, pp. 363–390.
  17. Donnelly. J., 2003, Universal human rights in theory and practice, Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, p. 10.
  18. Fortman, G., 2006, 'Poverty as a failure of entitlement: Do rights-based approaches make sense?' in Williams, L. ed., International Poverty Law: An Emerging Discourse. London: Zed Books, p. 36.
  19. Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, 2012, Regional Disparities and Marginalisation in Kenya. Nairobi: Elite Press, pp. 7–8.
  20. Gosepath, S., 2011, Equality, in Zalta, E. ed., The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy,
  21. https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2011/entries/equality/.
  22. Hellmann, D., 2012, Defining Corruption and Constitutionalizing Democracy, Michigan Law Review, Vol. 111, pp. 9–11. ssrn.com/abstract=2021188. Accessed 16 June 2020.
  23. Isaksen, J., 2005, The budget process and corruption. U4, Issue 3. https://www.cmi.no/publications/file/2559-the-budget-process-and-corruption.pdf Accessed 12 June 2022.
  24. Kaufmann, D., and Vicente, P., 2011, Legal Corruption, Economics & Politics, Vol. 23, No. 2, pp. 198–201.
  25. Kleinfield, R., 2006, Competing definition of the Rule of Law, in Carothers, T. ed., Promoting the Rule of Law Abroad: In Search of Knowledge, Washington DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
  26. Kumar, R., 2003, 'Corruption and Human rights: Promoting Transparency in Governance and the Fundamental Right to Corruption Free Service in India', Colombia Journal of Asian Law, Vol. 17, No. 1 https://journals.library.columbia.edu/index.php/cjal/article/view/3219. Accessed 14 June 2022.
  27. Macleod, C., 2010, 'Towards a Philosophical Account of Crimes Against Humanity', European Journal of International Law, Vol. 21, No. 21, pp. 281–302.
  28. Manga, C., 2011, 'Constitutional Reforms and Constitutionalism in Africa: Reflections on some current challenges and Future Prospects', Buffalo Law Review, Vol. 59, pp. 1007–1108.
  29. Matiangi, F., 2006, 'Case Study on the Role of Parliament in the Fight against Corruption: The Case of the Kenyan Parliament', in Stapenhurst, R., Johnston,
  30. N. and Pelizzo, eds, The role of parliaments in curbing corruption, Washington DC: World Bank, pp. 69–70.
  31. Muna, W., 2011, 'MPs given 30 days to pay tax or face forced recovery', Business Daily, Politics and Policy, 5 August. www.businessdailyafrica.com/MPs-given-30- days-to-pay--tax-or-face-forced-recovery/-/539546/1213746/-/aut7o6/-/index. html. Accessed 20 July 2020.
  32. Muthoni, K., 2020, 'Legal battles haunt Uhuru’s multi-billion legacy projects', The Standard, 21 July.
  33. Namatsi, J., and Gisesa, N., 2019, 'Uhuru cancels Kimwarer dam project, approves Arror after probe', Daily Nation, 18 September.
  34. Namunane, B., 2015, 'New Bill Seeks to Shield how KDF spends Budget Billions', Daily Nation, 1 August http://www.nation.co.ke/news/shield-military-spending- from-public/-/1056/2816212/-/blcxyjz/-/index.html. Accessed 21 March 2020.
  35. Ngira, D., 2017, '(Re) Positioning Socio-Economic Rights as Real Rights: A Response to Sceptics', Mount Kenya University Law Journal, Vol. 2, pp. 274–285.
  36. Nickel, J., 2013, 'Human Rights', in Zalta, E. ed. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2013/entries/rights-human/Okoth-Ogendo, H. W. O., 1988, Constitutions without constitutionalism: reflections on an African political paradox, New York: American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS).
  37. Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), 2008, OECD Glossary of Statistical Terms, Paris: OECD Publishing https://doi. org/10.1787/9789264055087-en. Accessed 15 June 2022.
  38. Ornstein, N., 2014, 'How Activist Judges Undermine the Constitution', The Atlantic, 18 September. https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/09/how-
  39. activist-judges-undermine-the-constitution/380413/. Accessed 5 June 2020.
  40. Quina, J., 2008, Essays on Corruption in Sub-Saharan Africa, PhD thesis: University of Warwick.
  41. Rawls, J., 1971, A Theory of Justice, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, p. 235.
  42. Raz, J., 1979, The Authority of Law: Essays on Law and Morality–The rule of Law and its virtues, Oxford: Clarendon Press.
  43. Riley, S., 2000, 'Western Policies and African: The New Anti-Corruption Agend', in Hope, R. and Chikulo, B. eds, Corruption and Development in Africa. Cham: Springer, pp. 137–153.
  44. Saha, A., 2008, Judicial Activism in India: A Necessary Evil, https://ssrn.com/ abstract=1156979
  45. Satyaranjan, S., 2001, Judicial Activism: The Indian Experience, Washington University Journal of Law and Policy, Vol. 6, 029–107.
  46. Sen, A., 1999, Development as freedom, New York: Knopf.
  47. St Clair, A., 2006, 'How Can Human Rights Contribute to Poverty Reduction? A philosophical Assessment of the Human Development Report', in Williams, L. ed., International Poverty Law: An Emerging Discourse, London: Zed Books, p. 25.
  48. Talbott, W., 2013, 'Consequentialism and Human Rights', Philosophy Compass, Vol. 8, No. 11, pp. 1030–1042.
  49. The Standard, 2022, DPP has a case to answer on collapse of high-profile cases https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/opinion/article/2001457961/dpp-has-a-case- to-answer-on-collapse-of-high-profile-cases
  50. Transparency International, 2020, Kenya’s Bribery Index 2019, https://tikenya.org/ wp-content/uploads/2020/12/2019-KENYA-BRIBERY-INDEX.pdf
  51. Tucker, E., 1965, 'The Morality of Law', by Lon L. Fuller, Indiana Law Journal, Vol. 40, No. 2, pp. 270–274.
  52. Tumonis, V., 2012, 'Legal Realism & Judicial Decision-Making', Jurisprudence, Vol. 19, No. 4, pp. 1361–1382.
  53. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), 2004, Anti-corruption: Practice Note, https://popp.undp.org/UNDP_POPP_DOCUMENT_LIBRARY/Public/ FRM_Accountability%20and%20Internal%20Controls_Program%20for%20Accountability%20and%20Transparency.pdf. Accessed 16 June 2020.
  54. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), 2018, Corruption, Human Rights, and Judicial Independence, www.unodc.org/dohadeclaration/ en/news/2018/04/corruption--human-rights--and-judicial-independence.html. Accessed 23 June 2020.
  55. Wenar, L., 2020, 'Rights', in Zalta, E. ed., The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2020/entries/rights/.
  56. World Bank, 1997, Helping Countries Combat Corruption: The Role of the World Bank, http://www1.worldbank.org/ publicsector/anticorrupt/corruptn/corrptn.pdf
  57. Yusuf, H., 2011, 'Rule of Law and Politics of Anti-Corruption Campaigns in a Post- Authoritarian State: The Case of Nigeria', King’s Law Journal, Vol. 22, No. 1, pp. 57–83. DOI: 10.5235/096157611794895264
Read More
Author biographies is not available.
Download
PDF
Statistic
Read Counter : 274 Download : 10

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Similar Articles

<< < 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 > >> 

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.