Eyes in the Courtroom in Kenya WildlifeDirect
Summary
Eyes in the Courtroom is a public-private partnership between WildlifeDirect and the Judiciary of Kenya. This project monitors, tracks, and analyzes outcomes of wildlife crime trials in all 121 courts in Kenya. The analysis of these trials has provided a performance measure of the investigation, prosecution, and disposition of Learning Questions wildlife crime cases. This analysis assists Kenya’s policy makers Addressed: in guiding policy and institutional reforms by identifying priority • What are good examples areas across the wildlife crime justice chain that need attention. of systems, particularly The novel approach used by Eyes in the Courtroom is being judicial systems, that have replicated in Malawi and Zambia. made improvements in combating wildlife trafficking enforcement?
• What are some examples of successful partnerships used to deliver competencybuilding activities and what made them work? • For specific audiences: which competency-building methods and content work best, especially for maintaining skills and retaining staff?
Problem
At the beginning of the project, three major problems faced Kenyan wildlife crime enforcement. First, state-run wildlife law enforcement agencies lacked the capacity to measure their performance in handling wildlife crime cases and had no evidence that existing laws were deterring wildlife crime. Second, despite record seizures of illegal ivory and the status of Kenya as a trafficking hub, not a single high-profile trafficker or kingpin involved in the illegal ivory trade had been arrested, prosecuted, and convicted. Finally, there was no continuous professional development for investigators, prosecutors, magistrates, and judges on emerging and evolving wildlife law jurisprudence. Officers lacked access to the tools, legal research resources, and basic refresher courses on the dynamics of modern wildlife crime.
Eyes in the Courtroom | Combating Wildlife Trafficking Case Study | Page 1
Photo credit: COLOGNETOCAPETOWN
Combating Wildlife Trafficking Case Study: Judicial Systems