The Council of Legal Education (CLE) has handed over two draft regulations to the Attorney-General seeking to widen access to advocates’ professional training, strengthen quality assurance and establish clearer pathways into the legal profession.
The Legal Education (Advocates Training Programme) Regulations, 2026 and the Legal Education (Licensing and Quality Assurance) Regulations, 2026 were handed over to Attorney-General, Dorcas Oduor, at the Attorney-General’s Office in Nairobi.
The proposed regulations are expected to establish uniform standards for legal education providers, improve accreditation and licensing, and address longstanding challenges affecting students and institutions offering legal education.
CLE Chairperson, Prof. Collins Odote, said the reforms respond to gaps that have affected the legal education sector for years, particularly access to advocates’ training, examination processes and regulation of legal education providers.
He noted that the regulations had also been developed in response to a Court of Appeal decision directing the Council to open post-university advocates’ training to accredited public and private institutions.
“We do not take that directive lightly, and we have worked tirelessly to respond to the requirements that the Court of Appeal has introduced,” Prof. Odote said.
The proposed framework provides for a two-year transition period for law graduates who have been unable to proceed to the Advocates Training Programme (ATP) because of existing legal requirements.
Under the proposal, eligible graduates would be allowed to undertake a bridging examination before joining the professional training programme.
The regulations further seek to recognise alternative pathways into the legal profession by taking into account relevant diploma and degree qualifications, subject to clear standards designed to safeguard the quality of legal education.
“This regulation moves towards the recognition of other pathways to join the legal profession, by recognising prior diplomas and degree qualifications as relevant qualifications,” Prof. Odote said.
The framework would also require legal education providers to regularly update their curricula, employ qualified faculty and meet prescribed standards before receiving accreditation.
Prof. Odote said the reforms were partly aimed at restoring confidence in the Council’s processes following concerns raised over examinations, delays and transparency.
The draft regulations were developed through consultations with universities, legal education providers, professional bodies, including the Law Society of Kenya (LSK), and members of the public.
Attorney-General Oduor said the reforms were also informed by concerns raised by young Kenyans during the Gen Z protests over access to legal education and professional training.
She called for the regulatory reforms to be incorporated into a broader national legal education policy addressing lawyer training, quality assurance, access to professional education and financial barriers facing students.
“Our measure of success should ultimately not be the number of regulations we enact or institutions we license. It should be whether a young Kenyan who chooses to study law can enter that journey with clarity, fairness, and confidence,” Oduor said.
The Attorney-General urged the Council of Legal Education, working with the Kenya Law Reform Commission and other stakeholders, to develop a broader policy framework for the sector.
She said the Government’s objective was to move legal education from uncertainty to predictability while maintaining professional standards, expanding opportunities and strengthening the contribution of the legal profession to access to justice and the rule of law.
The proposals received support from Law Society of Kenya President Charles Kanjama, who said Kenya had significant room to increase the number of competent lawyers able to provide legal services.
Kanjama noted that Kenya has about 27,000 advocates admitted to the legal profession, yet many Kenyans still face challenges accessing legal services.
“There’s clearly a bottleneck somewhere. The lawyers who are trained want to offer services. Kenyans need legal services,” Kanjama said.
He stressed that legal education should not end with admission to the Bar, noting the need for advocates to continually update their skills through continuing professional development.
“Legal education is a continuum from school until practice in law firms, in-house, and so on,” he said.
Kanjama observed that the legal profession had evolved significantly, with advocates increasingly working in-house, in public and private sector institutions and in specialised areas of practice.
He also called for continued efforts to professionalize continuing legal education to ensure advocates remain equipped to respond to emerging areas of legal practice.
Kenya School of Law Acting CEO Isaac Kuloba welcomed the proposals, describing the draft reforms as significant milestones in efforts to streamline legal education and advocates’ professional training.
The draft regulations will undergo further review before proceeding through the formal approval process.
The reforms are expected to provide students and graduates with clearer and more predictable pathways into professional legal training while ensuring institutions offering legal education operate under consistent quality standards.
By Nancy Omondi and Celine Mwende
