The Enforcement of Professional Ethics and Standards

In the early part of 2007 The Law Society of Kenya, through the Governance, Justice, Law and Order Sector Reform Programme ("GJLOS") of Kenya, undertook a review of the disciplinary machinery of the legal profession. This work, conducted by a team of consultants, was intended, inter alia, to review progress since the 2002 "Review of the Effectiveness of the Disciplinary Committee of The Law Society of Kenya and the Complaints Commission" by Mr. Mark Stobbs of the International Bar Association. This book is the result. Although the purpose of the project was to identify means of strengthening the disciplinary processes of the Kenya bar, its application is broader. There are generic and universal principles of good practice which are applicable in all countries and in more professions than just the legal profession. One difficulty faced by the consultants was to identify processes that reflected good practice and also were workable in the environment in which they were placed. This involved consideration of social, political and economic aspects of the environment. One of the major challenges facing the world today is the relative fragility of democracy, transparency, and the rule of law in many countries. This report, though intended for the benefit of Kenya, is a rich resource for other countries that might wish to review the disciplinary mechanisms for their legal professions, or other learned professions.