SUMMARY OF RECENT COURT CASES AND DECISIONS

The Constitutional Court of Kenya is has come under international spotlight after
a petition challenging the constitutionality of the trial of Jesus Christ was thrown
on its laps late in August, 2007. This unique petition and number of decisions
through which Kenyas highest court, the Court of Appeal, has broken new
jurisprudential ground, comprise this report of recent developments from Kenyas
courts.

Historic Court Petition that challenges the Trial of Jesus

Friends of Jesus v Tiberius, Emperor of Rome; Pontius Pilate; et al

Republic of Kenya Constitutional Petition No. 965 of 2007

A society of Christians has filed an unprecedented case in Kenya seeking a constitutional

interpretation of the trial, sentencing, punishment and death of Jesus Christ. On 29 th
August, 2007, the Friends of Jesus, acting through Mr. Dola Indidis, a Christian, a lawyer
and also the spokesman for the Kenyan Judiciary, filed a petition in the Constitutional
Court in Nairobi against the States of Italy and Israel and a host of characters featured in
biblical accounts of the events leading to Jesus crucifixion i.e. the Emperor of Rome at
the time, Tiberius; the Governor of Judea, Pontius Pilate; the Jewish Chief Priest; Jewish
Elders; Jewish Teachers of the Law and King Herod. The Kenya Civil Liberties Union
has joined the proceedings as amicus curiae (friend of the court).

The Petitioners are challenging the mode of questioning, trial, sentencing and punishment
of Jesus and are asking the court for a declaration that the proceedings before the Roman
Courts between 42BC and 37AD were a nullity in law because they did not conform to
the rule at the material time.

In a sworn affidavit, Mr. Indidis describes his fellowship of the Friends of Jesus as having
bestowed upon itself the sole responsibility and duty of preserving and protecting the
image, authority, teachings and dignity of Jesus Christ according to the teachings of the
New Testament. The petition states that the purpose of the proceedings is to obtain a
resolution of a pertinent issue for Christendom and Jews, i.e. addressing the wrongs that
were meted against Jesus particularly the legitimacy of the law under which he was tried
and punished and the manner in which that law was applied.

The states of Italy and Israel have been named in the suit because, as the Petition states,
upon the attainment of independence, the states incorporated the antecedent laws of the
Roman Empire and the laws in force at the time of the Crucifixion.

If the petition satisfies the threshold procedural and substantive requirements for a
constitutional reference, it will be referred to Mr. Justice Evan Gicheru, the Chief Justice,
on the question of appointing a bench of at least three High Court judges to hear it.
Sexual assault leading to death remoteness of cause of death on a charge
of murder

Dominic Maina Wanjiru v Republic [2007] eKLR

Earlier in the year, in February, the Court of Appeal dealt with the tragic case of a 7 year
old girl who had died while undergoing treatment for injuries suffered in a sexual assault.
On 7th October, 2000, young Rachael Maruhi had returned to her home crying and
bleeding from her private parts after a brief disappearance. She had told both her
grandmother and her mother that she had been defiled by the appellant, who was their
neighbour.

When Rachael was taken to hospital, she had undergone emergency surgery to stop her
bleeding and to repair her injuries. However, because she had not been starved of food for
about six hours, which is an established medical practice for persons about to undergo
surgery, when she became awake, she regurgitated her stomach contents and developed
cardiac arrest due to the clogging of her lungs with carbon dioxide. She died on the
surgery table from asphyxiation due to lung collapse.

In this appeal, the appellant challenged the decision of the High Court convicting him for
the murder of Rachael and sentencing him to death. The Court of Appeal considered
section 213(a) of the Penal Code