In 2022, Justice Defenders supported a group of paralegals at Kamiti Maximum Prison who filed a constitutional petition challenging the mandatory minimum sentences in Kenya’s Sexual Offences Act. These laws required courts to impose fixed sentences without considering the circumstances of each case, leaving judges unable to weigh factors such as age, intent or the unique background of the accused. For many people in prison, particularly minors charged alongside other minors, this resulted in long sentences that did not reflect the realities of their cases.

The petition was prepared and filed in December 2021 by three Kamiti paralegals and three of their clients, with support from Justice Defenders graduates and staff. They argued that mandatory minimums removed a court’s duty to consider mitigation and violated fundamental rights, including the right to a fair trial and the right to equal treatment under the law. Justice George Odunga of the Constitutional Court in Machakos agreed and ruled that prescriptive sentences within the Act were unconstitutional. The Court held that sentencing must involve careful judicial consideration and that people previously sentenced without such consideration should be eligible for resentencing.

The impact was immediate. Hundreds of people convicted under mandatory minimums could now return to court to have their sentences reviewed. The ruling also prevented future cases from being decided under rigid guidelines that had tied the hands of judges. For people like seventeen year old Samuel Muthee, who was convicted after a consensual relationship between two minors, the change meant freedom. His case was taken up by paralegal Peter Kago, who challenged the assumptions built into the law and argued for an approach that recognised the complexities of cases involving minors. Samuel was released after the judgment.