New law to end Kenya School of Law monopoly in advocates training

The Kenya School of Law could soon lose its exclusive position in training advocates, as new regulations propose opening the Advocates Training Programme to accredited public and private institutions.

The proposed Legal Education (Advocates Training Programme) Regulations, 2026, would allow institutions that meet standards set by the Council for Legal Education to offer the programme.

If adopted, the proposal will end the 18-year-long monopoly that the KSL has enjoyed in training advocates and changing how lawyers are trained before admission to the Bar.

The regulations provide that no institution will be allowed to offer the Advocates Training Programme unless it is accredited by the Council for Legal Education.

Applicants must be registered with the relevant government agency or established by an Act of Parliament.

On Wednesday, the Council handed over the draft regulations to the Attorney General, setting out the framework for accreditation, management, examinations, pupillage and quality assurance of institutions that will offer the programme.

The reforms seek to give effect to a Court of Appeal decision that declared the provisions giving KSL exclusive control over advocates’ training unconstitutional and directed the Council to prescribe admission standards and approve other public and private providers.

Attorney General Dorcas Oduor said the regulations were an important step in implementing the court decision and addressing longstanding uncertainty in legal education.

“The Legal Education Advocates Training Programme Regulations, 2026, give effect to the Court of Appeal’s decision,” Oduor said.

She said the court had directed CLE to prescribe admission standards for advocates’ training programmes and approve other public and private providers for accreditation.

“In other words, they said that the Kenya School of Law had monopolised legal training and were wondering why it would not open up legal training to other institutions,” she said.

Oduor said the changes were necessary partly because of the growing number of students seeking admission to the professional programme at KSL.

“It also happened that at that particular time we had so many students in the Kenya School of Law that it was becoming difficult to administer the legal programme,” she said.

Under the proposed framework, institutions seeking accreditation will have to demonstrate their financial capacity, provide a strategic plan, submit a feasibility study and disclose their proposed fees, class sizes, infrastructure and the qualifications of their teaching staff.

Institutions that already offer other academic programmes will also have to demonstrate that the Advocates Training Programme has separate physical, human, e-learning, financial and governance resources.

The Council will review applications within 30 days and, where an application meets the requirements, inspect the institution’s facilities. The inspection must be conducted within six months of the application.

Successful institutions will receive accreditation valid for three years and will be listed in a public register maintained by the Council. The Council will publish the status of accredited providers at least twice a year.

The cost of entering the market will also be significant. The draft sets the application fee for accreditation and licensing at Sh5 million, with renewal also costing Sh5 million.

The regulations impose strict limits on the number of students institutions can admit.

The programme will have to be delivered physically, with each provider required to maintain at least three full-time members of training staff.

The Council will determine each institution’s admission capacity based on its physical facilities, library resources, human resources and compliance with quality standards.

Each lecture hall will accommodate a maximum of 40 trainee advocates, while the proposed ratio of course instructor to trainee advocates is one to 10.

The draft proposes a common curriculum controlled by the Council, meaning institutions would compete in delivering the programme but would not develop entirely different training standards.

The coursework component would be organised into three terms of 11 teaching weeks each, with a two-week break after the first and second terms.

The Council would retain control of the examinations even after opening training to other institutions.

The proposed examination would comprise project work, oral assessment and written assessment, with a pass mark of 50 per cent for each unit.

The draft also seeks to address concerns around examination delays and appeals.

Results would have to be released within two months after completion of the final written paper.

Candidates would be allowed to seek a remark, while those who fail individual units would be permitted to resit them. A trainee advocate would have up to five years from admission to complete the entire programme.

CLE chairman Colin Odote said the regulations were also intended to restore confidence in the Council’s examination and accreditation processes following years of complaints from students.

“In 2024, at the height of the Gen-Z protests, there was also the Occupy CA protest outside council offices. I had conversations with the young people who were complaining about examinations, about delays, about several things about our procedures,” Sedote said.

He said the Council had taken the concerns seriously and incorporated them into the new framework.

“The regulation we present to you today seeks to regain trust in our processes and ensure certainty and objectivity in legal education,” he said.

Pupillage would remain six months of full-time attendance, with trainee advocates working under close supervision of an advocate trainer. The trainer must have at least five years’ post-admission practice and a current practising certificate.

The regulations contain a specific transitional provision for the Kenya School of Law.

KSL would be exempted from the new accreditation requirements for two years from the date the regulations come into operation.

It would then have to apply for accreditation at least six months before the expiry of that exemption.

This means KSL would not immediately have to compete for accreditation with new providers, but its continued operation would ultimately be subject to the same regulatory framework.

Oduor said the transition was necessary to protect students already enrolled at KSL.

“The transition arrangements should therefore ensure continuity, protect the legitimate students’ interests, and maintain the quality and integrity of professional legal training,” she said.

The draft also provides a transition mechanism for people who were previously locked out of the Advocates Training Programme.

For two consecutive years after the regulations come into force, the Council would administer a transitional pre-Bar examination, either directly or in collaboration with other institutions, for people who would have qualified for admission under the new rules but were not eligible under the previous framework.

Odote said the move could benefit about 5,000 people caught in the current system.

“We propose that in the regulations that over the next three years we provide them with a bridging examination so they can be able to then join the advocates programme,” he said.

The examination would test competence in languages used as mediums of instruction and communication. The proposed fee is Sh10,000.

The framework also provides a route for people with foreign law degrees.

Such applicants would have to apply to the Council, submit their academic documents and have their universities directly furnish certified degree certificates and transcripts to the Council.

The reforms are part of a wider legal education reform agenda initiated by the Attorney General after she assumed office in August 2024.

Oduor said she convened a consultative meeting with the leadership of the Law Society of Kenya, Kenya School of Law, CLE and the Kenya Law Reform Commission following concerns over admission criteria, examination processes, budgetary support and students’ fees.

LSK President Charles Kanjama welcomed the reforms, saying legal education should continue even after advocates are admitted to the Bar.

“The moment advocates are admitted to the Bar, the journey for education does not come to an end. It takes a new character. It adopts a new character through what we call continuing professional development,” Kanjama said.

He said LSK was in the process of registering a training institute to professionalise continuing professional development for advocates.

Kanjama said the profession was also changing, with lawyers increasingly working outside traditional law firms and specialising in new areas.