Cabinet passes proposal to decentralize Advocates Training Programme

Law students can now breathe a sigh of relief after the Cabinet approved the proposal to decentralize the provision of the Advocates Training Programme (ATP).

The new bill passed by Cabinet on Thursday will seek to address challenges occasioned by large number of students undertaking the mandatory post-graduate programme only at the Kenya School of Law.

Legal practitioners at the Kenya School of Law have called for the decentralization of the Advocates Training Programme citing congestion at the school and the big number of courses for its students.

The Advocates Training Program is conducted in 18 months; 12 months in-house and 6 months pupilage. Teaching in the Advocates’ Training Programme (the ATP) is conducted on a clinical basis.

The ATP programme is designed to equip lawyers with the practical skills required by the profession as mandated by the Kenya School of Law Act, 2012 and the Advocates Act Cap16.

The programme fills the gap for practical and clinical experiential training that prepares the lawyers for effective legal practice.

During the session also considered and approved/ratified the following Bills, Policies, Regulations and other statutory instruments, as follows:

1. The Kenya School of Law (Amendment) Bill, 2021;
2. The Supreme Court (Amendment) Bill, 2021;
3. The Intellectual Property Bill, 2021;