The Environment Land Court (ELC) will next week hold a National Environment and Land Conference as the specialized court commemorates its 10-year anniversary. The conference will also discuss major achievements and constraints in the execution of the court’s mandate.
The week-long conference will be held under the theme ‘ELC@10 – Looking back and moving forward on environment and land justice in Kenya’.
“Participants will deliberate on emerging issues affecting the realization of land rights and climate justice and the best methods of meeting the aspirations that Kenyans had, when they established the ELC the court’’ says a notice from judiciary.
ELC was established with the aim of hearing and determining disputes relating to the environment and the use and occupation of and title to land. The court was established in 2012 and currently has 37 courts spread across 36 counties, with a total of 53 judges.
Other objectives of the conference include raising awareness on sustainable development challenges, particularly the climate crisis, loss of biodiversity and the crucial role of courts as a key enabler for the successful achievement of the SDGs.
The conference will also seek to adopt recommendations from the discussions and demonstrate empirical lessons from the best practices in increasing access to justice and legal empowerment in environmental and climate change matters.
The conference will seek to foster stakeholder commitments to SDGs, including county initiatives and expand partnerships and networking opportunities on environment and land justice.
