Case brief · Supreme Court of Kenya · verified against the judgment
Case no.Petition (Application) E025 of 2025
Neutral citation[2026] KESC 9 (KLR)
Application dismissed for lack of jurisdiction — no order as to costs. Read the orders below, then verify against the judgment before you cite.
AI-generated brief. Generated from the official Kenya Law judgment and checked against its text — quotes are matched verbatim and pinned to the page they appear on. Verify before you cite.
Supreme Court cannot hear appeals from Small Claims Court cases because the law says High Court decisions are final.
The Supreme Court has dismissed an attempt to appeal a Small Claims Court case directly to it. The court ruled that the Small Claims Court Act does not give the Supreme Court power to hear such appeals. Instead, the Act says appeals stop at the High Court. This means if you lose a case at the Small Claims Court, your only appeal is to the High Court. You cannot go to the Court of Appeal or the Supreme Court for these matters.
The applicant, Linet Akinyi, was injured in a road traffic accident and filed a claim at the Small Claims Court (Milimani SCC/E969/2024). The Small Claims Court dismissed the suit on March 4, 2024, on grounds that it lacked jurisdiction because the claim fell within the pecuniary jurisdiction of the Magistrates' Court and the Small Claims Court Act did not confer jurisdiction over it. The applicant sought a review from the High Court, which declined to disturb that decision on May 9, 2024.
The applicant then filed a notice of motion dated May 19, 2025 and filed on May 28, 2025, asking the Supreme Court to hear the matter directly. The Supreme Court held that its appellate jurisdiction under Article 163(3)(b)(ii) of the Constitution is contingent upon national legislation prescribing such jurisdiction. The Small Claims Court Act prescribes no appellate jurisdiction to the Supreme Court; instead, section 38(2) provides that the High Court is the final appellate court. The absence of Court of Appeal jurisdiction does not automatically create Supreme Court jurisdiction. The application was accordingly dismissed, with no order as to costs.
Whether the Supreme Court has jurisdiction under Article 163(3)(b)(ii) to hear an appeal from the High Court in a Small Claims Court matter, given that section 38 of the Small Claims Court Act ousts the Court of Appeal's jurisdiction and declares the High Court's decision final.
Whether a court can entertain procedural arguments before establishing jurisdiction.
“the Small Claims Court Act, which is the national legislation that governs all matters arising from the Small Claims Court, does not prescribe appellate jurisdiction to this court as required under article 163(3)(b)(ii) but instead provides that the High Court shall be the final appellate court”
“Therefore, from the foregoing, this court does not have jurisdiction to hear and determine the applicant's appeal. For the said reason, we find no merit in this application and accordingly dismiss it.”
“The applicant's notice of motion dated May 19, 2025 and filed on May 28, 2025 be and is hereby dismissed.”
“There shall be no order as to costs.”
The Supreme Court's appellate jurisdiction under Article 163(3)(b)(ii) of the Constitution is contingent upon national legislation prescribing such jurisdiction; where the relevant national legislation (e.g., the Small Claims Court Act) does not prescribe appellate jurisdiction to the Supreme Court but instead designates the High Court as the final appellate court, the Supreme Court lacks jurisdiction to hear appeals from the High Court. (verbatim-grounded · p. 4)
Constitutional Application No 2 of 2011 · Supreme Court of Kenya
No Supreme Court route for SCC appeals
Advise clients the High Court is the final appellate forum; don't file Article 163(3)(b)(ii) notices in SCC cases; saves time and costs.
Finality in small claims disputes
High Court is the last stop; invest in strong High Court representation.
Know your appeal rights in SCC cases
Only appeal to High Court; file within time.
No. The Supreme Court has ruled that it lacks jurisdiction to hear appeals from Small Claims Court cases. The Small Claims Court Act says the High Court is the final appellate court. Once the High Court decides, the matter ends.
The High Court. Section 38 of the Small Claims Court Act states that a High Court decision on appeal is final.
Because it had no jurisdiction — the Small Claims Court Act does not give the Supreme Court power to hear these appeals.
No. It only grants jurisdiction if national legislation prescribes it; the Small Claims Court Act does not.