Judiciary Seeks Clearance to Dispose of Decades of Old Court Files at Thika, Eldama Ravine and Kerugoya Magistrates Courts

The Judiciary has announced plans to destroy large volumes of old court records held at three magistrates courts in Thika, Eldama Ravine and Kerugoya. Interested parties have been given three months to inspect the files and reclaim any exhibits that belong to them before the documents are permanently disposed of.

Three separate notices published in the Kenya Gazette on October 9 outline the intended applications. The courts will seek the Chief Justice’s formal permission to destroy the records three months after the notices appeared, providing a clear window for members of the public and litigants to act.

At the Chief Magistrate’s Court in Thika, the records marked for disposal cover civil cases filed between 2000 and 2005. The same court also plans to destroy criminal miscellaneous files, traffic matters and county bylaw cases that date from 2019 to 2022.

The Senior Principal Magistrate’s Court in Eldama Ravine has listed a broader range of records spanning more than a decade. These include criminal case files, traffic matters, miscellaneous criminal files and inquest records covering the years 2011 to 2023.

The Chief Magistrate’s Court in Kerugoya holds the oldest materials on the list. Civil case files dating as far back as 1968 and running through to the year 2000 have been earmarked for destruction.

The entire process is governed by the Records Disposal (Courts) Rules under Cap. 14. These rules set out the formal procedures that courts must follow before any records can be destroyed. Anyone who wishes to confirm whether a specific case appears on the disposal list is advised to inspect the full schedule of records at the relevant court registry.

Persons seeking the return of exhibits must also lodge their claims before the three-month notice period expires. Any exhibits that remain unclaimed at the end of that period will be treated as part of the court records and destroyed along with them.

The notices come at a time when the Judiciary is steadily expanding its use of digital systems to manage court processes and reduce dependence on physical paper files. Electronic filing has been rolled out nationwide, with a directive that physical pleadings and documents should no longer be printed from July 1, 2024. The eFiling system first went live in Nairobi in June 2020, expanded to Mombasa in April 2023, and has since been extended progressively across other counties.

In addition to electronic filing, the Judiciary has introduced an online Causelist Portal that allows litigants and the public to check daily hearing schedules, as well as an internal dashboard used to monitor the progress of cases. These digital tools form part of wider efforts to improve access to justice while managing the growing volume of physical records that have accumulated over many decades.