Kenya: IALS Library Guides

Kenya is located in the East of Africa and lies on the Equator. Its capital and oldest city is Nairobi. Kenya has only existed in its current form since 1895 when it was declared a protectorate of the British Empire. The origins of the current Kenyan legal system can be traced back to the British Common Law System. English statutes passed before August 12th 1897 are still law in Kenya unless they were later repealed by a later English statute applied in Kenya or a Kenyan statute. Kenya is now a multiparty democratic state. It has Government at national and county level. It has adopted a 'Separation of Powers' model of governance. This doctrine prescribes against concentration of state power in one body.  A more detailed summary is available in the GlobaLex guide to Kenya by Tom Ojienda and others, published in March 2020.

The Kenyan legal system has its origins in the British Common Law system but now the Constitution takes precedence over all other forms of law (GlobaLex guide. Researching Kenyan law by Tom Ojienda and others 2020). The Judicature Act, section 3 (Laws of Kenya chapter 8) gives details of the primary sources. Kenya gained independence from British Colonial rule in 1963 when the Kenya Independence Act and the 1963 Constitution were passed. These have since been superseded by Constitutions passed in 1969 and 2010. A further revised version of the 2010 Constitution became law in 2022.

Full text access, on site and remote, to the current and older constitutions, together with relevant commentaries and journal articles, is available to all academic library members  of IALS Library via Hein World Constitutions.

Open access to the full text of the Constitution is available on the Kenya Law site but the newly upgraded site is not yet complete. 

IALS has a looseleaf series  2021- of enacting legislation for Kenya. Earlier looseleaf collections for 1970- and 2010- and a 2008 series arranged by subject are held in the closed basement. IALS also holds older series of acts in force on January 1st  in  1924, 1926  and 1948 (prior to Kenya's independence) both in print and digital format (LLMC Digital) 

IALS holds the following current and older printed law reports/digest series. 

Kenya Law Reports  (Published under the authority of the Attorney-General of  the Republic of Kenya)   1976-

East Africa Law Reports   London Butterworths 1968-1975 & 1995-

Eastern Africa Law Reports London Butterworths 1957-1967

Law Reports of Kenya includes reports from the Colony and Protectorate of Kenya,  the East Africa Protectorate and the Supreme Court.    These can also be accessed via LLMC Digital 

Kenyan Appeal Reports  1982-1988 

Odunga's Digest on Civil Case Law and Procedure  3rd ed. 2016  LawAfrica. This edition covers case law up to and including 2012

IALS holds a collection of both print and e-books on Kenya and also books on Africa, the Commonwealth and Comparative law. Please check the Catalogue for further information. The following represents a selection of our our recent titles.

Chigiti, J. Intersex Persons and the Law in Kenya  Quality Thoughts Publishing 2021 

Ghai, Y. and others  Ten Years On: Assessing the Achievements of the Constitution of Kenya 2010  Kariba Institute 2021  (open access e-book)

Kameri-Mbote, P. Contending Norms in a Plural Legal System: the Limits of Formal Law University of Nairobi , School of Law 2021

Kenny, C.  Reimagining the gendered nation: citizenship and human rights in postcolonial Kenya  Woodbridge: James Kenney 2022

Khakula, A. Social and Economic Rights in Kenya: Theory, Practice and Jurisprudence Law Africa 2022 

Muigai, G. & Juma, D. Power, Politics & Law: Dynamics of Constitutional Change in Kenya, 1887-2022  Kabarak University Press 2024

Oyaya, C. &  Poku, N.   The Making of the Constitution of Kenya; a Century of Struggle and the Future of Constitutionalism  Routledge 2018

Oyier, K.  Criminal Prosecutions and Essence of Criminal Offences in Kenya  Law Africa 2018

Rosenberg-Jansen, S.  Voices in the dark: the energy lives of refugees  Berghahn 2024 (open access e-book)

Riungu-Koyler, C. Contract Law Law Africa 2021 

Siddiqui, A. Architecture of migration: the Dadaab refugee camps and humanitarian settlement  Duke University Press 2024 (open access e-book)

Kabarak University has published a selection of open access books on different areas of Kenyan law. The individual titles can be searched on the IALS catalogue. 

IALS has access to the following current e-journals. A small selection of older print journals is available on floors L2 and in the closed basement.

Africa journal of comparative constitutional law  Juta 2016- (e-journal)

Africa Nazarene University law  journal  2013- (e-journal)

Journal of African law  Butterworth 1957- (e-journal)

Journal of comparative law in Africa  Juta 2015- (e-journal)

Kenya law review Nairobi. National Council for Law Reporting  (open access) 2007-

A new Kenya Laws website is currently under development. It was launched in September 2024. When complete, it will include searchable databases for legislation, case law and the Kenya Gazette.  

The Hauser GlobaLex site provides English language guides to a wide range of jurisdictions and subject areas covering foreign, international and comparative legal research and tools for building research collections in these areas.

Ojienda, T., Ojienda, B.& Otieno, G.  Researching Kenyan Law  Published on the GlobaLex site  March/April 2020

Nhlabatsi, S.  Forced evictions and disability rights in Africa   Published on the GlobaLex site  January/February 2023

Justice for the Poor (J4P) is a World Bank Development programme concerned with promotion of legal reform of several countries including Kenya.