Teresia Wairimu Kirima (Administrator of the Estate of G K Kirima - Deceased) v Chairman Rent Restriction Tribunal Nairobi & another; Rose Muthoni & another (Interested Parties) [2019] KEELC 2079 (KLR)
The bottom line
#Kenya's High Court shut down a Rent Tribunal case because the monthly rent far exceeded the Tribunal's legal limit, ending its power to decide the dispute.
What this practically means
#Executive summary
#Key legal issues
#Time-bar under Order 53 of the Civil Procedure Rules
The application was not time-barred; time runs from the impugned decision (10/10/2017), and the proceedings of 26/1/2018 were within six months
The court held limitation under Order 53 runs from the date the impugned decision was made, not from the date the standard rent report was filed. The impugned decision was the Tribunal's 10/10/2017 refusal to down its tools. Even reckoning from 26/7/2017, the motion was filed on the last day of the period. Further, under Section 9 of the Fair Administrative Action Act, absent unreasonable delay, Order 53 cannot lock a litigant out of the seat of justice.
Jurisdiction of the Rent Restriction Tribunal after assessment of standard rent
The Tribunal, whose jurisdiction is pegged on a maximum standard rent of Kshs 2,500, lost jurisdiction once the standard rent was assessed at Kshs 25,000 and should have downed its tools
The Tribunal is a creature of statute with jurisdiction pegged on a maximum monthly standard rent of Kshs 2,500. Once the standard rent was assessed at Kshs 25,000, the Tribunal was required only to note the figure and cease proceedings; continuing to entertain the dispute and maintain restraining orders was without jurisdiction. Certiorari and prohibition were accordingly granted.
Legal principles established
#- Where a statutory tribunal's jurisdiction is pegged on standard rent, once the standard rent is assessed and it exceeds the tribunal's jurisdictional limit, the tribunal must vacate subsisting orders and cease entertaining the dispute
- The Fair Administrative Action Act is the substantive and procedural law governing judicial review in Kenya, and Order 53's six-month limit cannot be invoked absent unreasonable delay
- For limitation under Order 53, time is reckoned from the date the impugned decision was made
Court orders
#- 1.An order of certiorari to bring into the court and quash the proceedings of Nairobi Rent Tribunal case no 787 of 2018 and Nairobi Rent Tribunal (RR (A) No 31 of 2017
- 2.An order of prohibition restraining the 1st respondent from hearing and/or determining the said Tribunal cases
- 3.Each party to bear their respective costs of the application
- Jurisdiction invoked
- Judicial review jurisdiction under Order 53 of the Civil Procedure Rules and the Fair Administrative Action Act
Key timeline
#Practical implications
#Frequently asked questions
#Later judgments citing this (2)
#Judgments in the corpus that rely on this one. Where the Court said how it treated the authority, that is shown.
- Kimani Kabogo v William Kabogo Gitau [2020] KEELC 2751 (KLR)[2020] KEELC 2751 (KLR)7 May 2020
- Kimani Kabogo v William Kabogo Gitau [2020] KEELC 2751 (KLR)[2020] KEELC 2751 (KLR)7 May 2020
Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Teresia Wairimu Kirima (Administrator of the Estate of G K Kirima - Deceased) v Chairman Rent Restriction Tribunal Nairobi & another; Rose Muthoni & another (Interested Parties) [2019] KEELC 2079 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2019). Judicial Review Motion dated 4/6/2018 (Nairobi High Court Judicial Review). Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelc/2019/2079/eng@2019-07-31
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.