For nearly two decades, the Kenya School of Law (KSL) has been the gatekeeper of legal training in Kenya, standing tall like a stubborn bouncer at the entrance of the Advocates Training Programme (ATP). But in a dramatic courtroom twist, the Court of Appeal has ruled that KSL’s iron grip on the ATP is unconstitutional. Now, universities and other institutions can finally get a piece of the action, offering the course that is mandatory for anyone who dreams of donning the revered advocate’s robes.
The three-judge bench—Justices Patrick Kiage, Lydia Achode, and Weldon Korir—dropped the legal equivalent of a mic by ordering the Council of Legal Education (CLE) to roll out a licensing framework, allowing other public and private institutions to provide ATP training. It’s a decision that essentially turns the ATP landscape into a free market, where institutions will have to compete not just on quality but also on affordability. And if there’s one thing Kenyan students love, it’s the prospect of lower fees.
The Monopoly Crumbles
The judges also took a legal sledgehammer to Sections 16 and 26 of the Kenya School of Law Act, branding them unconstitutional. These sections had given KSL the power to regulate other legal education providers—essentially making it the player, referee, and goalpost of legal training. The Court of Appeal, however, ruled that such regulatory authority belongs solely to the CLE.
“The Legal Education Act is the framework of legal education and training in Kenya, including the ATP. Consequently, the provisions therein are the ones applicable to all legal training in Kenya, including the ATP,” the judgment stated.
This legal breakthrough comes courtesy of a petition filed by Stephen Nikita Otinga, who argued that KSL’s monopoly had overstretched its resources, leading to mass failures. His concern? That the institution had turned into a glorified exam failure factory, churning out re-sit candidates at an alarming rate.
A Pricey Affair
One of the loudest complaints against KSL has been the astronomical costs associated with training, remarking, and resitting exams. At the time of the petition, KSL charged Sh15,000 to remark a failed paper and Sh10,000 to retake a single exam. If all 1,520 students who failed in 2018 opted for remarking, they would have forked out Sh22.8 million collectively. For re-sits, the total bill would have stood at Sh15.2 million. It was a business model so profitable that even corporate sharks would have taken notes.
Between 2015 and 2018, only an average of 14.7% of students passed the bar exam at KSL, leading to multiple investigations by the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) and even Parliament.
The Pushback
KSL, of course, wasn’t going down without a fight. The institution vehemently denied allegations of being overwhelmed, insisting that its classes were far from bursting at the seams. According to KSL, student failures were a matter of personal effort—or lack thereof. The institution argued that once students complete their training, they are released to the CLE for bar exams, making it unfair to blame KSL for the high failure rates.
“Failing or passing an examination depends on an individual’s excellence and endeavour,” KSL stated in its defense. “Besides, those resitting the exams are no longer our students; they belong to the CLE.” In other words, KSL was essentially telling students, ‘It’s not us, it’s you.’
What’s Next?
The big question now is: what does this ruling mean for aspiring lawyers? For starters, legal training is about to get a whole lot more competitive. With multiple universities entering the ATP market, students may finally have options that won’t require them to break the bank. Institutions will have to up their game, not only in quality but also in pricing.
The ATP itself is no joke—it covers everything from civil and criminal litigation to trial advocacy, conveyancing, commercial transactions, and legal ethics. But with more training institutions now in the mix, students can expect better accessibility and, hopefully, improved pass rates.
In short, the days of KSL being the undisputed king of legal training are officially over. The courtroom doors have been thrown open, and universities are stepping in, briefcases in hand, ready to give KSL a run for its money. Whether this will lead to a golden era of legal education or just more legal drama remains to be seen—but one thing is certain: the status quo has been shattered, and there’s no going back.
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