Civil Procedure Rules in Kenya

Rules 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30 shall apply in the case of civil proceedings by the Government but shall not apply in the case of civil proceedings against the Government.

Where in any civil or commercial matter pending before a court or tribunal of a foreign country a letter of request from such court or tribunal for service on any person in Kenya of any process or citation in such matter is transmitted to the High Court, with an intimation that it is desirable that...

Upon the application of the Attorney-General the court may make all such orders for substituted service or otherwise as may be necessary to give effect to rule 32.

Where in any civil or commercial matter pending before a court or tribunal in any foreign country with which a Convention in that behalf has been or shall be made and applied to Kenya, a request for service of any document on a person in Kenya is received by the Registrar of the High Court from the...

Where a defendant has been served with summons to appear, he shall unless some order be made by the court, file his appearance within the time prescribed in the summons.

(1) Appearance shall be effected by delivering or sending by post to the proper officer a memorandum of appearance in triplicate in Form No. 12 Appendix A with such variation as the circumstances require, signed by the advocate by whom the defendant appears or, if the defendant appears in person, by...

(1) The advocates of the defendant shall state in the memorandum of appearance the addresses for service being the place of business within Kenya and postal address. (2) A defendant appearing in person shall state in the memorandum of appearance his addresses for service being either his place of...

If the memorandum of appearance does not contain an address for service within Kenya it shall not be filed; and if any address given is illusory or fictitious the appearance may be set aside on the application of the plaintiff.

If two or more defendants appear in the same suit by the same advocate and at the same time, the names of all the defendants so appearing shall be inserted in the same memorandum of appearance.

(1) Documents may either be delivered by hand or by licensed courier service provider approved by the court to the address for service or may be posted to it. (2) Where delivery is disputed a certificate of posting or other evidence of delivery shall be filed.

Where a defendant has been served with a summons to appear he shall, unless some other or further order be made by the court, file his defence within fourteen days after he has entered an appearance in the suit and serve it on the plaintiff within fourteen days from the date of filing the defence...

Where in any suit a defence of tender before action is pleaded the defendant shall pay into court, in accordance with Order 27, the amount alleged to have been tendered, and the tender shall not be available as a defence unless and until payment into court has been made.

A defendant in a suit may set-off, or set-up by way of counterclaim against the claims of the plaintiff, any right or claim, whether such set-off or counterclaim sound in damages or not, and whether it is for a liquidated or unliquidated amount, and such set-off or counterclaim shall have the same...

Notwithstanding anything contained in rule 2, a person shall not be entitled to avail himself of any set-off or counterclaim in any proceedings by the Government for the recovery of taxes, duties or penalties, or to avail himself in proceedings by the Government of any other nature of any set-off or...

The defence and counterclaim filed under rule 1 and 2 shall be accompanied by— (a) an affidavit under Order 4 rule 1(2) where there is a counterclaim; (b) a list of witnesses to be called at the trial; (c) written statements signed by the witnesses except expert witnesses; and (d) copies of...

If either party wishes to deny the right of any other party to claim as executor or as trustee whether in bankruptcy or otherwise, or in any representative or other alleged capacity or the alleged constitution of any partnership firm, he shall deny the same specifically.

Where any defendant seeks to rely upon any grounds as supporting a right of counterclaim, he shall, in his statement of defence, state specifically that he does so by way of counterclaim.

Where a defendant by his defence sets up any counterclaim which raises questions between himself and the plaintiff, together with any other person or persons, he shall add to the title of his defence a further title similar to the title in a plaint, setting forth the names of all persons who, if...

Where any such person as is mentioned in rule 8 is not a party to the suit, he shall be summoned to appear by being served with a copy of the defence, which shall be served in accordance with the rules for regulating service of summons.

Any person not already a party to the suit who is served with a defence and counterclaim as aforesaid must appear thereto as if he had been served with a summons to appear in the suit.

Any person named in a defence as a party to a counterclaim thereby made may, unless some other or further order is made by the court, deliver a reply within fifteen days after service upon him of the counterclaim and shall serve a copy thereof on all parties to the suit.

Where a defendant sets up a counterclaim, if the plaintiff or any other person named in the manner aforesaid as party to such counterclaim contends that the claim thereby raised ought not to be disposed of by way of counterclaim, but in an independent suit, he may at any time before reply, apply to...

If, in any case in which the defendant sets up a counterclaim the suit of the plaintiff is stayed, discontinued or dismissed, the counterclaim may nevertheless be proceeded with.

Where in any suit a set-off or counterclaim is established as a defence against the plaintiff’s claim, the court may, if the balance is in favour of the defendant, give judgment for the defendant for such balance, or may otherwise adjudge to the defendant such relief as he may be entitled to upon...

Where the defendant relies upon several distinct grounds of defence or set-off founded upon separate and distinct facts, they shall be stated, as far as practicable, separately and distinctly.

(1) Any ground of defence which has arisen after action brought, but before the defendant has delivered his defence and before the time limited for his doing so has expired, may be raised by the defendant in his defence, either alone or together with other grounds of defence; and if, after a defence...

(1) A plaintiff shall be entitled to file a reply within fourteen days after the defence or the last of the defences has been served on to him, unless the time is extended. (2) No pleading subsequent to the reply shall be pleaded without leave of the court, and then shall be pleaded only upon such...

(1) Subject to rule 8 all pleadings (including amended pleadings) subsequent to the plaint shall be filed in duplicate. (2) The court may return the duplicate to an advocate who shall deliver it to the address for service on the opposite party within seven days. (3) Where the duplicate is not...

(1) A register of documents shall be kept at every registry in which the following particulars in respect of each such document shall be entered, namely— (a) the number of the document; (b) the number of the suit to which it relates; (c) the nature of the document; (d) the date of filing;...

Documents under this order shall be served in the manner prescribed under Order 5 of these Rules.