Effects of Reforms on Performance of Secretaries

EFFECTS OF REFORMS IN THE JUDICIARY ON THE PERFORMANCE OF SECRETARIES: CASE STUDY OF NAKURU LAW COURTS

A PROPOSAL SUBMITTED TO THE KENYA NATIONAL EXAMINATION COUNCIL IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF HIGHER DIPLOMA IN SECRETARIAL MANAGEMENT

1.0 Overview
This chapter covers the following areas in relation to the effects of reform on the performance of secretarial staff in the Judiciary.
1.1 Background Information
Reforms have been taking place in judicial systems around the world for centuries. According to Hodgson (1979), the English Model on which our judicial system is based, has evolved from 12th century when the courts were presided over by the King himself. Since then, the judicial system in England has gained independence from the Monarchy and the Government.
From the inception of the colonial Kenyan State in 1895 to date, the public has been skeptical of the Judiciary. This is because the system of justice segregated and marginalized the indigenous people to native African tribunals presided over by village headmen and the courts were manned by expatriates judges and magistrates. This dual system was abolished and merged into modern court systems but marginalization of indigenous judicial systems remained unaddressed until the promulgation of the new constitution in 2012 (JSF 2012-2016).
The Nakuru Law Courts began during the African Ordinance of 1902 when there was a major reorganization throughout the court system where courts moved away from the Native African Courts systems which were headed by village headmen. During the emergency in 1952, many courts had been streamlined and by 1960s, in a bid to end racial discrimination, there were reforms where courts were to be closely linked to the police and were to be headed by magistrates. The current Nakuru Law Courts were built in 1961 and were officially opened by the then Chief Justice.
In view of this and many factors, there have many attempts at reforming the Judiciary and the most recent was started 29th May 2009 following the appointment of the Final Task Force on Judicial Reforms. The major intention was to recommend among other things, the expansion of the functions and independence of the Judicial Service Commission. The Judicial Service Commission has since been put in place following the finalization of the Task Force on Judicial Reforms and the promulgation of the new Constitution on August 2010.
The main objective of the researcher is to assess the effect of these reforms on the performance of secretaries in the Judiciary and how they can be facilitated to improve on it. This study will be carried out in the Nakuru Law Courts where there are different departments with a total of 20 secretaries. It is situated along Gusii Road, off Kenyatta Avenue in Nakuru Town, next to the District Commissioner’s office.

1.2 Statement of the Problem
According to Ouko (2009), an independent and effective Judiciary is vital for a democratic society founded on the rule of law and respect for fundamental rights and freedoms. The primary role of the Judiciary is to independently and impartially administer justice and arbitrate legal disputes. The Judiciary also reinforces checks and balances between the other arms of the government and by so doing, ensures constitutionalism. By arbitrating on disputes in society and upholding the rule of law the Judiciary contributes to social order that is the foundation for social and economic development.
However, the Judiciary faces several challenges that undermine its ability to play its aforesaid role effectively. The institutional growth of the Judiciary has not been accompanied by introduction of better and more effective management methods over personnel and financial resources leading to poor service delivery. Some of the factors contributing to poor service delivery in addition to the above are: absence of performance management systems, weak culture of professionalism and chronic under-capacity.
The promulgation of the Constitution in 2010 heralded a new beginning for most institutions. For the Judiciary, this call was urgent. It became imperative for the Judiciary to develop a mechanism for institutional renewal that would enhance public faith and confidence in it. In order to transform itself into an effective and independent but accountable branch of government, the Judiciary must not only re-organize and restructure its institutional operations but also wholly embrace the unique responsibilities bestowed it by the constitution.
1.3 Objectives of the Study
The main objectives of the study are: (i) To identify the reforms taking place in the Judiciary. (ii) To assess the performance of secretarial staff in Nakuru Law Courts. (iii) To establish the relationship between the reforms and the performance of secretaries. (iv) To make appropriate recommendations to improve the performance of secretarial staff in Nakuru Law Courts
1.4 Research Questions
(i) What are the reforms that are taking place in the Judiciary?
(ii) What are the effects of these reforms on the performance of secretarial staff in Nakuru Law Courts? (iii) What is the relationship between the reforms and the performance of secretaries in Nakuru Law Courts? (iv) What can be done to improve the performance of secretarial staff in Nakuru Law Courts?

1.5 Assumptions
The study will be carried out with the following assumptions:- (i) There will be no change in the performance during data collection period. (ii) The researcher will have access to the respondents and data. (iii) The respondents will be sincere in giving out the required information to the researcher. (iv) Adequate funds will be available to facilitate the study.
1.6 Justification of the Study
The public is demanding that the Judiciary improves its performance, enhances the quality of justice it provides and improves its service delivery culture. This study intends to establish the effect of reforms in Nakuru Law Courts and thereafter make recommendations that may improve performance of the secretaries.
1.7 Significance of the study
It is hoped that this study will yield data and information that will be useful to the administration of Nakuru Law Courts to establish the effect of the reforms on the performance of secretaries, and the entire Judiciary. The findings and recommendations of this study will also be useful to the secretarial staff and which if implemented, will enhance their productivity and service delivery. The researcher also hopes that the study will form a basis for further research leading to the generation of new ideas for the better implementation of the reforms in the Judiciary.
1.8 Scope
The study will be carried out at the Nakuru Law Courts which is situated on Gusii Road off Kenyatta Avenue in Nakuru Town and will focus on the effect of reforms on the performance of secretarial staff.
1.9 Limitations
The researcher is likely to face the following limitations: - (i) Time given for the study may not allow for intensive research. (ii) Insufficient funds to facilitate the collection and compilation of data (iii) Respondents may fail to co-operate for fear of victimization by the employer (iv) The study is limited to Nakuru Law Courts and may not be large enough to give a picture of the whole of the Judiciary.

1.10 Conceptual Framework

REFORMS PERFORMANCE

* People-focused delivery of service * Improved productivity

* Transformational Leadership

* Organizational Culture

* Work Environment

Figure:1

1.11 Definition of Operation terms

Reforms - Change that is made to a social system or an organization in order to improve it.
Judicial Officers - These are officers who perform judicial functions e.g. Judges and Magistrates
Paralegal Staff - Officers e.g. Court Clerks, Secretaries, Executive Officers who carry out support duties.
Performance - the accomplishment of a given task measured against pre-set known standards of accuracy, completeness, cost and speed Workload - the amount of work assigned to or expected from a worker in a specified time period Attitude - a predisposition or a tendency to respond positively or negatively towards a certain idea, object, person or situation. Motivation - internal or external factors that stimulate desire and energy in people to be interested and committed to a job, role or subject to make an effort to attain a goal.

CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW

2.0 Overview
In this chapter, the researcher reviews the literature related to reforms. The review is conceptualized under the objectives of the study and focuses also on the performance of secretaries.
2.1 Definition of Reforms
Armstrong (2009) postulates that reforms are changes that are transformational in that they change structures, processes and behaviors and have a dramatic effect on the way in which institutions or organizations function. He further stresses that during this transition state, problems of introducing reforms begin to emerge and have to be managed. These problems can include resistance to change, low stability, high levels of stress, misdirected energy, conflict and loss of momentum.
Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary defines reforms as change that is made to a social system or an organization or an individual with a view to improving or correcting it.
Oyugi (1994) defines reforms as any systematic changes in administrative systems designed to lead to a more efficient and responsible administration.
Judicial reform is the complete or partial reform of a country’s judiciary. Judicial reform is often done as part of wider reform of the country’s political or legal system. www.wikipedia.org
2.2 Reforms in the Judiciary
Kenyan Judiciary has since independence been transformed from a dual to a unified Judicial system which applies both English law and African Customary law. Hitherto, there existed two systems – one for the African natives and another for European settlers. In 1967 three major laws were enacted. These were the Judicature Act (Chapter 8), the Magistrates’ Courts Act (Chapter 10) and the Kadhis Courts Act (Chapter 11). These Acts have streamlined the administration of justice in Kenya.
Although the independence Constitution granted the judiciary some measure of formal independence, it was treated as a government department and not as an equal and independent arm of government. Indeed formal grants of independence were later removed through constitutional amendments. As a result the Judiciary lost institutional autonomy and the decisional independence of judicial officers was undermined. (The Bench Bulletin, 2011)
Ouko (2009) stated that the Judiciary continued to perform below expectations of the people and longstanding calls have been made for comprehensive reforms of the institution. With the delinking of the Judiciary from the civil service in 1993, several studies have been conducted and recommendations made by internal committees on ways in which the Judiciary can be transformed to meet the ever changing needs and expectations of the people.
Mutunga (2011) stated that he found a judicial institution so frail in its structure; so thin on resources; so low on its confidence; so deficient in integrity; so weak in its public support that to have expected it to deliver justice was to be wildly optimistic.
The agenda for judicial reforms began in earnest following the establishment of the Committee on Terms and Conditions of Service of the Judiciary in 1992. It was later followed by Committee on the Administration of Justice in 1998 and the Committee on the Integrity and Corruption in 2003. In 2009 a Final Task Force on Judicial Reforms was appointed by the Government and among many issues, it was to recommend: - (i) Any measures or proposals that are necessary to strengthen and enhance the performance of the Judiciary in the short and long term. (ii) Any advice on how and when the proposed reforms should be carried out.
The recommendations of the above committees have formed some of the critical reforms currently taking place within the Judiciary.
The promulgation of the Constitution in 2010 heralded a new beginning for most institutions. For the Judiciary, this call was even more urgent. It became imperative for the judiciary to develop a mechanism for institutional renewal that would enhance public faith and confidence in it.
2.3 Importance of Reforms in the Judiciary (i) The Medium Term Plan (2008-2012) identifies judicial reform as an important aspect of economic, social and political pillars of Vision 2030. (ii) According to the Judicial Transformation Framework, the Judiciary will be able accomplish its mandate which is to administer justice to all irrespective of status. (iii) Once it re-organizes and restructures its institutional operations, the Judiciary will also be able to wholly embrace the unique responsibilities bestowed upon it by the new Constitution.
According to the Judicial Transformation Framework 2012-2016, reforms are based on four key pillars as follows: - 2.3.1 People-focused delivery of service

The Constitution guarantees equal protection of the law for everyone; therefore it demands that justice must be done to all irrespective of status. Under this pillar, the Judiciary will pursue strategies aimed at creating legal systems which will ensure equality of all before the law and an equitable legal process.

2.3.2 Transformative leadership, organizational culture and professional motivated staff

The structure and operational relationship between judicial officers and judicial staff is unclear. Judicial and administrative functions are fused thus lacking accountability systems. Under this pillar, the Judiciary seeks to create an institution that is sensitive and responsive to needs, feelings and aspirations of its staff. It will institutionalize performance management and evaluation in its systems and processes.

2.3.3 Adequate financial resources and physical infrastructure

Infrastructure investment in the Judiciary has been grossly inadequate. In this pillar, the Judiciary will establish an Infrastructure Development Master Plan and Strategy to oversee the massive infrastructure development that it plans to undertake in the next 10 years.

2.3.4 Harnessing technology as an enabler for justice.

The Judiciary has had very limited adoption and utilization of information and communication technologies. Under this pillar, the Judiciary will create an e-judicial framework that will make ICT an enabler of its reform program.

2.3 Challenges facing implementation of Reforms in the Judiciary
Although some reforms have been carried out in the Judiciary, they are isolated and have not yet been sufficient to bring far reaching changes that are needed to transform the Judiciary into a strong, efficient and independent institution. (i) A key challenge in the human resource situation in the Judiciary is the imbalance in the ratio of judicial officers to administrative officers in favor of the former (JTI Bulletin 2012).
2.5 Reforms and Performance
Mango (2011) states that management is the process of planning, executing, reviewing, monitoring, evaluating and measuring the results of both the institution and individuals in order to meet the expectation of the Kenyan public and to attain certain goals and targets. She further said that policies regarding performance management needs to be in place for the Kenyan Judiciary.
However, according to Armstrong and Baron (1998) performance is a strategic and integrated approach to delivering sustained success to an organization by improving the performance of the people who work in them and by developing the capabilities of teams and individual contributions.
Bates and Hotton (1995), define performance as a multi-dimensional construct, the measurement of which varies depending on factors. They continue to state that it is important to determine whether the measurement objective is the assessment of performance outcome or behavior. It can be regarded as the record outcome achieved on individual basis; it is a record of a person’s accomplishment.
2.6 Role of a Secretary in the Judiciary
According to the Scheme of Service for secretarial personnel in the Judiciary, the secretarial function entails attending to enquiries, providing secretarial staff in a given office in the Judiciary. This entails receiving and attending to clients, handling correspondence, office documents and e3quipment, recording dictation in shorthand, typewriting, processing data, maintaining office diary ,protocols and travel itineraries, ensuring proper office layout, operating office equipment and machines. Management of e-office and ensuring security of office records, documents and equipment.
2.7 Transformational Leadership
Transformational leadership is a significant approach to motivate followers beyond expectations and set free creativity inside them. Burns (1978) identified transformational leadership as a process where one or more persons engage with others in such a way that leaders and followers raise one another to higher levels of motivation. As a result there is an increase in their level of performance, satisfaction and commitment to the organization goals.
2.8 Organizational Culture
Organizational culture is the sum total of the attitudes, behaviors, beliefs and traditions of an organization. Tichy (1982) stated that organizational culture is the glue that holds the overall organization together. Stewart (2010) further stated that organizational norms and values have a strong effect on all those who are attached with the organization.
Hodgett and Luthans (2003) defined some or the characteristics of organizational culture as: - (i) Norms are measured by things like amount of work done and also the level of co-operation between management and employees of the organization. (ii) Clear rules are defined for employees behavior associated to productivity, intergroup co-operation and customer relationship. (iii) Co-ordination and integration between the organizational units for the purpose of improvement and service delivery.