Kenya
Our work in Kenya dates back to 2006.
Executions have not been carried out in the country since 1987. The courts have declared the mandatory death penalty unconstitutional. Despite these positive developments, in recent years the scope of those protections has been narrowed – and death sentences continue to be regularly imposed.
In December 2017, in Muruatetu v Republic of Kenya, the Supreme Court of Kenya held that the automatic handing down of a death penalty for murder was unconstitutional. This landmark ruling marked a turning point, affirming that judges must be able to apply discretion whilst sentencing.
However, in 2021, the Supreme Court issued guidelines limiting the application of that decision, excluding certain offences such as robbery with violence. As a result, mandatory death sentences continue to be imposed in some cases.
Kenya has not carried out an execution in four decades, meaning the country is classified as abolitionist de facto. This situation has led to a complex and ongoing debate about the role of the death penalty in society and its impact on crime deterrence.
Our work in Kenya has combined strategic litigation, practical training, engagement with key decision-makers and commissioning groundbreaking academic research.
We supported early constitutional challenges to the mandatory death penalty, including the successful appeal of Godfrey Mutiso in 2010 before the Court of Appeal. We later were admitted as amicus curiae in the Muruatetu appeal, alongside local partners, contributing expert analysis to the Supreme Court. In 2017, the Supreme Court declared that the automatic imposition of the death penalty was unconstitutional.
Following the ruling, we assisted the Sentencing Taskforce in relation to the Supreme Court judgment in Muruatetu to guide the transition to discretionary sentencing. It is in this context that we published our report Pathways to justice: Implementing a fair and effective remedy following abolition of the mandatory death penalty in Kenya, which was distributed to key stakeholders both in Kenya and regionally.
In partnership with the Judicial Training Institute and Katiba Institute, we have delivered training to judges and legal professionals on sentencing principles and the role of mental health in capital cases.
Our research has explored various aspects of the impact of the death penalty in Kenya. We have worked with the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) and The Death Penalty Research Unit, University of Oxford, to publish a study examining the socio-economic profiles of people on death row and used this resource to engage with policy makers. We have also commissioned research on the attitudes of ‘opinion leaders’ and the public towards the death penalty, seeking to provide accurate data and facilitate dialogue.
Alongside our local partners, we continue to provide support in ongoing direct challenges to capital punishment, aiming to further restrict the use of the death penalty in Kenya and improve procedural safeguards. At the same time, we are working with our partners Crime Si Poa and KNCHR to document the experiences of people affected by death sentences and engage with key stakeholders to build momentum for full abolition.