File a land dispute at the Environment and Land Court
The Judiciary of Kenya · sources read 2 Oct 2026
Prepare a plaint (or petition) and file it at the Environment and Land Court registry or on Judiciary e-filing, then pay the fee: KSh 2,000 for a claim with no fixed money sum. The court sets a case management conference within 60 days.
- Fee
- FreeAssessment of court fees at the registryKSh 2,000Plaint for an unliquidated claim (no fixed money sum)KSh 2,000Plaint for a liquidated claim: minimum (assessed on the amount, up to KSh 71,000)KSh 1,500Any application, e.g. for an injunctionKSh 2,250Application under certificate of urgency
- How long
- The court's service standard is to hear and decide a case within 360 days
- Where
- At any of the 37 Environment and Land Court stations, or online on Judiciary e-filing (efiling.court.go.ke)
What you need
- Your pleading: usually a plaint (or a petition or originating summons), with supporting documents
Steps
- Prepare your plaint (or petition) setting out the dispute and what you want the court to order, and file it as a Land case.
- Register the case at the registry or on e-filing, get the fee assessed, and pay it.
- Collect the summons and serve them, with your pleadings, on the person you are suing.
- Attend the case management conference, set within 60 days of filing, where a hearing date is then fixed.
Watch out
- Smaller land cases may belong in a magistrate's court instead: a Chief Magistrate can hear land cases worth up to KSh 20 million.
- File it under the right division: Land cases and Environment and Planning cases are filed separately.
- Need to stop a sale or eviction fast? An urgent application costs KSh 2,250.
Who can apply
- Anyone with a dispute over ownership, possession, rights or boundaries of land, whether public, private or community land.
- Typical cases: fraudulent registration, double allocation, trespass.
Official sources (4)
- Environment and Land Court judiciary.go.ke · read 2 Oct 2026
- Environment and Land Court New Divisions: User Operations Guidelines judiciary.go.ke · read 2 Oct 2026
- Environment and Land Court Service Delivery Charter judiciary.go.ke · read 2 Oct 2026
- Magistrate Courts judiciary.go.ke · read 2 Oct 2026