Kinuthia v Republic [2025] KEHC 4493 (KLR)

Kinuthia v Republic (Petition E009 of 2024) [2025] KEHC 4493 (KLR) (28 March 2025) (Ruling)

Neutral citation: [2025] KEHC 4493 (KLR)

Republic of Kenya

In the High Court at Malindi

Petition E009 of 2024

M Thande, J

March 28, 2025

Between

Dennis Kinuthia

Applicant

and

Republic

Respondent

Ruling

1. In his Application filed in this Court, the Applicant says he was convicted of the offence of defilement contrary to Section 8(10 as read with 8(4) of the Sexual Offences Act in Kilifi Criminal Case No. 115 of 2016 and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment.

2. The Applicant has now come back to this Court vide the present Application seeking review of his sentence so that the period spent in custody pending trial be taken into account.

3. The Respondent chose not to file any response to the Application.

4. The Applicant filed Criminal Appeal No. 16 of 2018 in this Court which was dismissed. Unrelenting, he filed Criminal Appeal No. 56 of 2020 in the Court of Appeal which was similarly dismissed. This critical information was not disclosed to the Court.

5. At the very outset, this Court must determine whether it has jurisdiction to entertain the Petition before it. The law, is that a court may only exercise that jurisdiction which has been conferred upon it by the Constitution, statute or both. This was succinctly stated by the Supreme Court in the case of Samuel Kamau Macharia & another v Kenya Commercial Bank Limited & 2 others [2012] eKLR, as follows:A Court’s jurisdiction flows from either the Constitution or legislation or both. Thus, a Court of law can only exercise jurisdiction as conferred by the constitution or other written law. It cannot arrogate to itself jurisdiction exceeding that which is conferred upon it by law. We agree with counsel for the first and second respondents in his submission that the issue as to whether a Court of law has jurisdiction to entertain a matter before it, is not one of mere procedural technicality; it goes to the very heart of the matter, for without jurisdiction, the Court cannot entertain any proceedings.

6. This Court derives its jurisdiction principally from Article 165(3) of the Constitution which confers upon it, unlimited original jurisdiction in criminal and civil matters. The provision clearly delineates and demarcates what the Court can and cannot do. The jurisdiction of this Court includes supervisory powers. By dint of Article 165(6) however, this Court cannot supervise superior courts. It provides:The High Court has supervisory jurisdiction over the subordinate courts and over any person, body or authority exercising a judicial or quasi-judicial function, but not over a superior court.

7. The superior courts in the court system in Kenya are listed in Article 162 (1) of the Constitution as follows:The superior courts are the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal, the High Court and the courts mentioned in clause (2).

8. At the helm of the Court system in Kenya is the Supreme Court followed by the Court of Appeal. This Court falls below the Court of Appeal. The decision of the Court of Appeal dismissing the Applicant’s appeal is binding on this Court. By his Application, the Applicant seeks in effect that this Court re-opens and and reviews the judgment of this Court and that of the Court of Appeal, a court superior to it. To entertain this matter in respect of which the Court of Appeal has pronounced itself therefore, no matter how compelling the arguments placed before it, would be to violate the constitutional judicial hierarchical norm.

9. In the case of Kenya Hotel Properties Limited v Attorney General & 5 others [2020] eKLR, the Court of Appeal addressed the judicial hierarchical orders and stated:As we stated at the beginning of this judgment this appeal is disturbing. The multiplicity of endless proceedings around the same dispute does not bode well for the administration of justice…Its latest rising is the most baffling of all because the petition filed before the High Court sought strange prayers in that the Court there was being asked to annul, strike out, reverse or rescind a judgment of this Court, its elder sibling. In a system of law that is hierarchical in order, such as ours is, it seems to us that such a thing is quite plainly unheard of and for reasons far greater than sibling rivalry. The Constitution itself clearly delineates and demarcates what the High Court can and cannot do. One of things it cannot do by virtue of Article 165(6) is supervise superior courts.Moreover, under Article 164(3) of the Constitution, this Court has jurisdiction to hear and determine appeals from the High Court. Its decisions are binding on the High Court and all courts equal and inferior to it. It is therefore quite unthinkable that the High Court could make the orders the appellant sought as against a decision of this Court to quash or annul them, or that it could purport to direct this Court to re-open and re-hear a concluded appeal. We consider this to be a matter of first principles so that the appellant’s submission that the issue pits supremacy of the courts against citizens’ enjoyment of fundamental rights is really misconceived because rights can only be adjudicated upon by properly authorized courts. Any declaration by a court that has no jurisdiction is itself a nullity and amounts to nothing. It matters not how strongly a court feels about a matter, or how impassioned it may feel or how motivated it may be to correct a perceived wrong; without jurisdiction it would be embarking on a hopeless adventure to nowhere.

10. This finding of the Court of Appeal was affirmed by the Supreme Court in Kenya Hotel Properties Limitedv Attorney General & 5 others (Petition 16 of 2020) [2022] KESC 62 (KLR) (Civ) (7 October 2022) (Judgment), which stated:55. [As] was thus rightly noted by the High Court and the Court of Appeal, the rule of thumb is that superior courts cannot grant orders to reopen or review decisions of their peers of equal and competent jurisdiction much less those court higher than themselves.

11. I am duly guided by the cited decisions.

12. The Applicant’s appeal was heard and determined by this Court and the Court of Appeal. What he now seeks is that this Court reviews its own decision and that of the Court of Appeal. Put differently, he seeks that this court supervises superior courts of equal and superior jurisdiction. This would defy the constitutional hierarchy of the courts.

13. In light of the foregoing, the Court finds that the Application herein is incompetent for want of jurisdiction and the same is hereby struck out.

DATED, SIGNED AND DELIVERED IN MALINDI THIS 28TH DAY OF MARCH 2025. ...........................M. THANDEJUDGE