PART IV – JUDGMENTS AND EXECUTION
20. Interest on debts, damages and costs
(1) Section 26 of the Civil Procedure Act (Cap. 21), (which provides that a judgment debt shall carry interest) shall apply to judgment debts due from or to the Government.
(2) The provisions of any written law empowering a court to award interest on costs shall apply to orders made in any proceedings by or against the Government.
(3) The provisions of any written law empowering a court to award interest on debts and damages shall apply to orders made in any proceedings by or against the Government.
(4) This section shall apply both in relation to proceedings pending at the commencement of this Act and in relation to proceedings instituted thereafter.
[Act No. 21 of 1966, First Sch.]
21. Satisfaction of orders against the Government
(1) Where in any civil proceedings by or against the Government, or in proceedings in connection with any arbitration in which the Government is a party, any order (including an order for costs) is made by any court in favour of any person against the Government, or against a Government department, or against an officer of the Government as such, the proper officer of the court shall, on an application in that behalf made by or on behalf of that person at any time after the expiration of twenty-one days from the date of the order or, in case the order provides for the payment of costs and the costs require to be taxed, at any time after the costs have been taxed, whichever is the later, issue to that person a certificate in the prescribed form containing particulars of the order:
Provided that, if the court so directs, a separate certificate shall be issued with respect to the costs (if any) ordered to be paid to the applicant.
(2) A copy of any certificate issued under this section may be served by the person in whose favour the order is made upon the Attorney-General.
(3) If the order provides for the payment of any money by way of damages or otherwise, or of any costs, the certificate shall state the amount so payable, and the Accounting Officer for the Government department concerned shall, subject as hereinafter provided, pay to the person entitled or to his advocate the amount appearing by the certificate to be due to him together with interest, if any, lawfully due thereon:
Provided that the court by which any such order as aforesaid is made or any court to which an appeal against the order lies may direct that, pending an appeal or otherwise, payment of the whole of any amount so payable, or any part thereof, shall be suspended, and if the certificate has not been issued may order any such direction to be inserted therein.
(4) Save as aforesaid, no execution or attachment or process in the nature thereof shall be issued out of any such court for enforcing payment by the Government of any such money or costs as aforesaid, and no person shall be individually liable under any order for the payment by the Government, or any Government department, or any officer of the Government as such, of any money or costs.
(5) This section shall, with necessary modifications, apply to any civil proceedings by or against a county government, or in any proceedings in connection with any arbirtation in which a county government is a party.
[Act No. 21 of 1966, First Sch., Act No. 35 of 2015, s. 2]
22. Execution by the Government
(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, any order made in favour of the Government against any person in any civil proceedings to which the Government is a party may be enforced in the same manner as an order made in an action between subjects, and not otherwise.
(2) Subsection (1) of this section shall apply both in relation to proceedings pending at the commencement of this Act and in relation to proceedings instituted thereafter.
(3) Nothing in this section shall affect any procedure which immediately before the commencement of this Act was available for enforcing an order made in favour of the Government in proceedings brought by the Government for the recovery of any fine or penalty, or the forfeiture or condemnation of any goods, or the forfeiture of any ship or any share in a ship.
[Act No. 21 of 1966, First Sch.]
23. Attachment of moneys payable by the Government
(1) Where any money is payable by the Government to some person who, under any order of any court, is liable to pay any money to any other person, and that other person would if the money so payable by the Government were money payable by a subject, be entitled under rules of court to obtain an order for the attachment thereof as a debt due or accruing due, or an order for the appointment of a receiver to receive the money on his behalf, the High Court may, subject to the provisions of this Act and in accordance with rules of court, make an order restraining the first-mentioned person from receiving that money and directing payment thereof to
that other person, or to the receiver:
Provided that no such order shall be made in respect of—
(a) deleted by Act No. 6 of 1979, Sch.;
(b) money which is subject to the provisions of any written law prohibiting or restricting assignment or charging or taking in execution; or
(c) money payable by the Government to any person on account of a deposit in the Kenya Post Office Savings Bank.
(2) The provisions of subsection (1) of this section shall, so far as they relate to forms of relief falling within the jurisdiction of a subordinate court, have effect in relation to subordinate courts as they have effect in relation to the High Court.
[Act No. 21 of 1966, First Sch., Act No. 6 of 1979, Sch.]
PART V – MISCELLANEOUS
24. Discovery
(1) Subject to and in accordance with rules of court,
(a) in any civil proceedings in the High Court or a subordinate court to which the Government is a party, the Government may be required by the court to make discovery of documents and produce documents for inspection; and
(b) in any such proceedings as aforesaid, the Government may be required by the court to answer interrogatories:
Provided that this section shall be without prejudice to any rule of law which authorises or requires the withholding of any document or the refusal to answer any question on the ground that the disclosure of the document or the answering of the question would be injurious to the public interest.
(2) Any order of the court made under the powers conferred by paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of this section shall direct by what officer of the Government the interrogatories are to be answered.
(3) Without prejudice to the proviso to subsection (1) of this section, any rules of court made for the purposes of this section shall be such as to secure that the existence of a document will not be disclosed if, in the opinion of a Minister, it would be injurious to the public interest to disclose the existence thereof.
[Act No. 21 of 1966, First Sch.]
25. Exclusion of proceedings in rem against the Government
(1) Nothing in this Act shall authorise proceedings in rem in respect of any claim against the Government, or the arrest, detention or sale of any Government ship or aircraft, or of any cargo or other property belonging to the Government, or give to any person any lien on any such ship, aircraft, cargo or other property.
(2) Where proceedings in rem have been instituted in the High Court or in a subordinate court against any such ship, aircraft, cargo or other property, the court may, if satisfied, either on an application by the plaintiff for an order under this subsection or an application by the Government to set aside the proceedings, that the proceedings were so instituted by the plaintiff in the reasonable belief that the ship, aircraft, cargo or other property did not belong to the Government, order that the proceedings shall be treated as if they were in personam duly instituted against the Government in accordance with the provisions of this Act, or duly instituted against any other person whom the court regards as the proper person to be sued in the circumstances, and that the proceedings shall continue accordingly.
(3) Any order made in accordance with the provisions of subsection (2) may be upon such terms, if any, as the court thinks just; and, where the court makes any such order, it may make such consequential orders as it thinks expedient.
[Act No. 21 of 1966, First Sch.]
26. Limitation of actions
Nothing in this Act shall prejudice the right of the Government to rely upon any written law relating to the limitation of time for bringing proceedings against public authorities.
[Act No. 21 of 1966, First Sch.]
27. Application to the Government of certain written laws
This Act shall not prejudice the rights of the Government to take advantage of the provisions of any written law although not named therein; and in any civil proceedings against the Government the provisions of any written law which could, if the proceedings were between subjects, be relied upon by the defendant as a defence to the proceedings, whether in whole or in part, or otherwise, may, subject to any express provision to the contrary, be so relied upon by the Government.
[Act No. 21 of 1966, First Sch.]
28. No abatement on change of Government
No claim by or against the Government, and no proceedings for the enforcement of any such claim, shall abate or be affected by any change of the Government.
[Act No. 21 of 1966, First Sch.]
29. Abolition of certain writs
No writ of extent or diem clausit extremum shall issue after the commencement of this Act.
