Overview of the Legal and Justice System cheat sheet

Basic concepts and types of law

• The Constitution of Kenya, 2010 is the supreme law under article 2: any law inconsistent with it is void to the extent of the inconsistency, so every search, seizure and interview must respect the Bill of Rights.
• Substantive law states the rule and asks whether it was broken; procedural law governs how the rule is enforced and proved, and evidence gathered in breach of procedure can be excluded however clearly it shows the fraud.
• Statutory law is enacted by Parliament, or a county assembly for county matters; it ranks below the Constitution but takes priority over the common law and judicial precedent where they conflict.
• A civil fraud action is brought by the victim for compensation and decided on the balance of probabilities; a criminal action is brought by the state through the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions for punishment, on proof beyond reasonable doubt.
• One fraud can found a civil claim and a criminal prosecution at the same time, and when the money crosses borders, international law supplies the mutual legal assistance and extradition a Kenyan investigation cannot compel alone.