Your rights and what Kenyan law says
Your rights under the Constitution and Acts of Parliament: arrest and bail, courts and legal aid, work, family, land, consumers and data. Every answer quotes the law itself from Kenya Law. It is general information, not legal advice.
Most asked
- About the EACC: what it does, who leads it and how to reach it
- Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes courts: how corruption cases are tried
- Appeal a court decision to the Court of Appeal or Supreme Court
- Check banned and provisionally suspended athletes (ADAK)
- Check if a Kenyan banknote is genuine (security features)
- Check that a lawyer is a real advocate with a valid practising certificate
- Complain about a newspaper, TV or radio story
- Complain about an accountant or auditor (ICPAK)
All 184, A to Z
- About the EACC: what it does, who leads it and how to reach it
- Animal cruelty: what the law bans and the penalty
- Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes courts: how corruption cases are tried
- Anticipatory bail: asking the High Court for bail before arrest
- Appeal a court decision to the Court of Appeal or Supreme Court
- At what age can a child be charged with a crime?
- By-elections in Kenya: when they happen and who votes
- Can a confession you made to the police be used against you?
- Can a dual citizen be an MP, governor, Cabinet Secretary or soldier?
- Can a government official accept gifts?
- Can a magistrate's court hear a human rights case?
- Can a male police officer search a woman?
- Can a public servant do business with their own office or hold a second job?
- Can an ordinary person arrest someone? Is mob justice allowed?
- Can anyone force you to undergo a cultural rite?
- Can I be punished for disobeying a court order?
- Can I defend myself if I am attacked?
- Can I record or film police officers on duty?
- Can I represent myself in court without a lawyer?
- Can police officers and other security officers vote?
- Can police question or arrest a child?
- Can police release you without taking you to court?
- Can police search your home or car without a warrant?
- Can police still charge you with 'creating a disturbance'?
- Can police stop you and ask for your documents?
- Can police take your fingerprints and photo, and must they delete them?
- Can police track, tap or get into your phone?
- Can prisoners vote in Kenya?
- Can someone be jailed for defamation?
- Can the court order the offender to pay you compensation?
- Can the government limit your rights?
- Can the High Court review a magistrate's criminal decision (revision)?
- Can you be arrested for what you post online?
- Can you be forced to join a union, association or chama?
- Can you be stopped from leaving Kenya or living where you want?
- Can you enforce your constitutional rights against a person or company?
- Can you get a new trial if new evidence appears after conviction?
- Can you get information held by a private company?
- Can you take someone to court for a crime yourself (private prosecution)?
- Challenging an unfair government decision in court (judicial review)
- Check banned and provisionally suspended athletes (ADAK)
- Check if a Kenyan banknote is genuine (security features)
- Check that a lawyer is a real advocate with a valid practising certificate
- Child custody in Kenya: legal, physical and joint custody, and how courts decide
- Community service instead of jail: who qualifies
- Compensation when wildlife kills, injures or destroys your property
- Complain about a newspaper, TV or radio story
- Complain about an accountant or auditor (ICPAK)
- Complain to PSRA about a private security company or guard
- Contact or complain to the State Department for Devolution
- Contact State House or write to the President
- Contact the Law Society of Kenya and its branches
- County Woman Representative: role and who can run
- Court recess (vacation): dates and what still runs
- Courts martial under the Kenya Defence Forces Act
- Curfews: who can order one and what happens if you break it
- Cybercrime offences and penalties (Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act)
- Data Protection Officer (DPO): who needs one and what to do
- Do public officers have to declare their wealth?
- Do you have to go when police summon you to record a statement?
- Do you have to pay for a police bond or bail?
- Does Kenya still have the death penalty?
- Does time in remand count towards your sentence?
- Early release from prison for good behaviour (remission)
- Election offences: is buying votes a crime?
- Filing a rights case for someone else or for the public
- Find a probation office near you
- Find and contact your chief, assistant chief, DCC or County Commissioner
- Find Auditor-General audit reports for counties, ministries and state corporations
- Find police contact numbers (hotlines and police headquarters)
- Find the current Cabinet Secretary or Principal Secretary for a ministry
- Find your county governor and county government website
- Find your MP, Senator and Woman Representative
- Freedom of religion: can a school or employer force you to worship?
- Get certified copies of court proceedings, rulings or judgments
- Get confidential help for someone being radicalised or recruited into violent extremism
- Getting back property police are holding as an exhibit
- Getting back your goods attached for someone else's debt
- Getting false or misleading information about you corrected or deleted
- Give your views on the national budget to the Treasury (sector hearings, BROP, Budget Policy Statement)
- Going to court when your constitutional rights are violated
- Guns and the law: penalties, holder duties and appeals
- How county revenue shares (equitable share) are divided among counties
- How courts decide bail, and asking for lower bail
- How Kenya's electoral system works: six ballots, terms and the 50%+1 rule
- How long can police hold you before taking you to court?
- How long do I have to appeal a magistrate's civil judgment?
- How long you have to sue someone (time limits)
- How much lawyers charge: the Advocates Remuneration Order
- How to appeal a criminal conviction or sentence, and the deadline
- How to challenge an election result (election petition)
- How to enforce a judgment when the other side won't pay
- How to petition Parliament or a public office
- How to petition the President for a pardon (power of mercy)
- How to run as an independent candidate
- How to sue the government or the police, and how long you have
- IEBC nomination fees to run for President, governor, senator, MP, woman rep or MCA
- Injured because of someone's carelessness: claiming compensation
- Interest on court judgments (court rates)
- Is a verbal or WhatsApp agreement valid in court?
- Is being gay legal in Kenya? What the law says on same-sex relations
- Is bhang (weed) legal in Kenya? Drug laws and penalties
- Is damaging someone's property on purpose a crime?
- Is hunting legal in Kenya?
- Is it a crime to buy or keep stolen goods?
- Is it a crime to go through my partner's phone or WhatsApp?
- Is it a crime to make a false report to the police about someone?
- Is it legal to form or join a private militia?
- Is police entrapment legal in Kenya?
- Is secretly recording a phone call legal, and can it be used in court?
- Is sharing someone's intimate photos without consent a crime?
- Is there a time limit for charging someone with a crime?
- Judiciary and court contacts: Supreme Court, High Court and court stations
- Kenya Law Reform Commission (KLRC): what it does
- Kenya's anti-corruption laws explained
- Kenya's court structure: from the Supreme Court down
- Kenya’s current office holders: President, Deputy President, Chief Justice and Speakers
- Kenya's Data Protection Act, 2019: what it says and where to get it
- Kenya's election laws: who runs elections and your rights as a voter
- Kenya's Refugees Act 2021 explained: status, rights and camps
- Knives, tasers, pepper spray and replica guns: what the law says
- Law Society of Kenya Act, regulations and the advocates' code of conduct
- LSK member portal: membership and practising certificate renewal
- Must a police officer show you their name or ID?
- Must you pay court fees, and what if you can't afford them?
- Nyumba Kumi and community policing: how to take part
- Official election results and voter numbers (IEBC)
- Police and civil disputes: evictions, custody orders and court orders
- Police OB number: what it is and how to get one
- Read Controller of Budget implementation reports for counties and national government
- Read the National Assembly Standing Orders
- Report a cyber incident to NC4
- Report doping or request anti-doping training (ADAK)
- Report illegal gambling or an unlicensed betting operator to GRA
- Robbery and robbery with violence: what is the difference and the punishment?
- Role and functions of chiefs and assistant chiefs
- Search Kenyan laws and court judgments on Kenya Law
- Settling a dispute through elders, mediation or arbitration instead of court
- Someone is held and you don't know where: habeas corpus
- Someone threatened to kill me. What does the law say?
- Suing someone for defamation over a Facebook, WhatsApp or TikTok post
- Take part in public participation (bills, budgets, county plans)
- Taking a plea in court, and what happens if you plead guilty
- The law of tort: suing someone who harmed you
- Track a Bill in Parliament and how a law is made
- Using Kiswahili, English or Sign language in court and with government
- What an auctioneer must do before taking your goods
- What are housebreaking and burglary, and the punishment?
- What counts as theft, and what is the punishment?
- What happens if I miss my criminal court date?
- What happens if you ignore a court summons to be a witness?
- What happens if you ignore court summons in a civil case
- What happens to a surety when the accused disappears, and how to withdraw
- What happens to lost property handed in to the police
- What is 'idle and disorderly', and is it still an offence?
- What is a plea bargain and how does it work?
- What is the punishment for assault?
- What must happen if someone dies in police custody or is shot by police
- What probation is and how long it lasts
- What property can't be taken to pay a court debt?
- What rape is under Kenyan law and the punishment
- What the Constitution promises minorities and marginalised communities
- What the law says about bribes, including police bribes
- What the law says about discrimination
- What you need to run for President, and the IEBC nomination fee
- When a company needs your consent to use your personal data
- When can police arrest you without a warrant?
- When can police use force or shoot? What the law allows
- When is the next general election in Kenya?
- When someone breaks an agreement (breach of contract)
- Which court handles my case
- Which magistrate's court can hear my civil case, depending on the amount?
- Which services are the county's job and which are the national government's
- Who can freeze your bank account? (preservation orders)
- Who can run for office: MCA, MP, Senator, governor or President
- Will the court give you a lawyer if you are charged and can't afford one?
- Withdrawing or settling a criminal case
- Witness protection if you have been threatened
- Your right to demonstrate and hold public meetings
- Your right to reasons and a fair hearing from a government office
- Your rights and responsibilities under the Bill of Rights
- Your rights as a victim of crime
- Your rights in a police cell or prison
- Your rights when police arrest you