Chief Justice candidate Lucy Wanja Julius to stop media coverage if given job

Lawyer Lucy Wanja Julius arrives at the Supreme Court yesterday. There will be no media coverage of judicial proceedings if Wanja is appointed Chief Justice. (PHOTO: COURTESY) 

There will be no media coverage of judicial proceedings if Lucy Wanja Julius is appointed Chief Justice.

Ms Julius, the second female candidate to be interviewed for the position, said media scrutiny of the Judiciary was interfering with judges' decisions. She said if appointed CJ, she would throw journalists out of court if parties said they did not want media coverage.

"As a judge, I will ask litigants if they want media coverage even if it is a corruption case involving high profile individuals. If they say they don't want media coverage, then I will lock journalists out and still promote accountability in the Judiciary," she told the Judicial Service Commission panel.

She claimed that media coverage of proceedings had placed undue pressure on judges and interfered with their independence, and that the Judiciary did not need the media to be seen as transparent.

According to the candidate, she is "the stone that the builders rejected" and able to transform the Judiciary.

"I am a believer in (the Biblical story of) David and see myself as one who, despite being not considered by his father, rose to become the person who killed Goliath. I believe I have the capacity to restore what has been ailing the Judiciary," said Julius.

Attorney General Githu Muigai: "You have been in practice as a lawyer for 20 years; do you believe that experience can take you to a position where you leapfrog and assume leadership of people with double that experience?"

Ms Julius: "In my family, we have a self-help group comprising older people including my father. But they elected me to be their leader, which shows I can lead people of more experience."

Emily Ominde: "You describe yourself as David coming to slay Goliath. Where is this Goliath in the Judiciary you are coming to slay?"

Ms Julius: "I am looking for the position of CJ because there is none currently and you need a CJ. That is why you need me. What was started by Dr Mutunga has to be completed because he threw some spears at the Goliath but he did not slay him."

Julius was the 11th candidate to be interviewed.