Njeru & 2 others v Attorney General & 2 others; Mutiria (Interested Party) (Environment and Land Miscellaneous Application E019 of 2023) [2025] KEELC 662 (KLR)
The bottom line
#Kenya's Environment and Land Court confirmed the six-month window to challenge a land decision starts when you actually receive or learn of it, not when it was made.
What this practically means
#Executive summary
#Key legal issues
#Nature of a preliminary objection
The preliminary objection raised a pure point of law arising from statutory limitation provisions and required no ascertainment of contested facts.
The court applied the Mukisa Biscuit test, under which a proper preliminary objection is in the nature of a demurrer, raising a pure point of law on the assumption that all facts pleaded by the other side are correct. It found the statutory bar under Section 9(3) of the Law Reform Act and Order 53(1) such a point, capable of being determined without in-depth analysis of contested facts.
Commencement of the six-month period for certiorari
The application for leave was filed within time because time runs from communication or knowledge of the decision, and the applicants were found to have become aware of the decision on 10th August 2023.
The record showed the Minister's appeal was decided on 28/9/2022 but no date for the decision was indicated, and the 2nd Respondent did not rebut the applicants' averment that no delivery date was given. Relying on Dominic Musei Ikombo v Kyule Makau and Republic v Kenya National Highways Authority ex parte Amica Business Solutions, the court gave the applicants the benefit of doubt and held the Chamber Summons dated 29/11/2023 was within the statutory period.
Legal principles established
#- The six-month limitation period for leave to apply for certiorari runs from the date the impugned decision is communicated to or becomes known to the affected parties.
Court orders
#- 1.Leave granted to the Applicant to apply for an order to bring forth into the Court the decision of the Minister for Land dated 28/9/2022 for the purpose of being quashed
- 2.Leave granted to operate as a stay of further execution of the Minister's decision
- 3.Applicant to file and serve the substantive Notice of Motion within 21 days from the date of the Court's order
- 4.Each party to bear their own costs of the application
- Jurisdiction invoked
- Order 53 Rules 1 and 2 of the Civil Procedure Rules, 2010 and Section 9(3) of the Law Reform Act (judicial review leave jurisdiction)
Key timeline
#Practical implications
#Frequently asked questions
#Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Njeru & 2 others v Attorney General & 2 others; Mutiria (Interested Party) (Environment and Land Miscellaneous Application E019 of 2023) [2025] KEELC 662 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2025). Chamber Summons dated 29th November 2023 (Judicial Review). Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelc/2025/662/eng@2025-02-20
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.