NAIROBI, Kenya – CLE proposes an accreditation framework for public and private institutions to offer the Advocates Training Programme, while giving some law graduates a two-year transition window.
The Kenya School of Law (KSL) could lose its long-standing monopoly over professional advocates’ training if proposed regulations by the Council for Legal Education (CLE) are adopted.
The draft Legal Education (Advocates Training Programme) Regulations, 2026 would allow accredited public and private institutions that meet prescribed standards to offer the Advocates Training Programme (ATP).
The proposals are also expected to provide an alternative pathway for thousands of law graduates who have struggled to secure admission to professional legal training despite holding law degrees.
CLE Chairman Collins Odote said the proposed framework would introduce a two-year transition period for graduates who currently hold law degrees but do not meet the existing requirements for admission to the ATP.
Under the transitional arrangement, affected graduates would be allowed to sit a pre-Bar examination before proceeding to professional legal training.
“We provide, under the regulations, a two-year transition window for those who hold law degrees but for some reason or the other do not qualify to join the programme,” Odote said.
He said graduates covered by the transition would undertake a bridging examination before being admitted to the ATP.
More institutions could offer advocates’ training
The proposed regulations would establish a framework through which institutions seeking to offer the ATP would be accredited and subjected to common quality standards.
Among the requirements would be updated curricula, practical training facilities, qualified teaching staff, research capacity and regular quality assurance.
The reforms would effectively expand the number of institutions capable of providing professional legal training beyond KSL, subject to accreditation and compliance with the proposed standards.
The CLE says the changes are aimed at addressing longstanding challenges surrounding admission, accreditation and examination within Kenya’s legal education system.
The proposals also seek to establish clearer progression pathways from diploma and A-level qualifications through law degrees and ultimately to professional legal training.
Proposed rules follow Court of Appeal decision
The proposed changes follow a 2025 Court of Appeal decision which, according to the CLE and the Attorney-General, found provisions supporting KSL’s monopoly over professional legal training unconstitutional.
The court directed the CLE to establish admission requirements and a system for accrediting other institutions to provide professional legal training.
The new regulations would therefore provide the framework for implementing that decision while establishing a new licensing and quality assurance regime for professional legal education providers.
Odote said the sector had operated for almost a decade under the 2009 regulations after the licensing framework introduced in 2016 was challenged in court and declared unconstitutional.
The draft rules are contained in two sets of regulations published by the CLE as part of the wider reforms.
New examination rules proposed
The proposed regulations would also introduce changes to how ATP trainees are assessed.
Candidates would be evaluated through project work alongside oral and written examinations, with trainees required to attain a minimum score of 50 per cent in every unit.
Under the proposed framework, trainees would have five years from the date of admission to complete the programme.
A trainee who fails to complete the programme within the five-year period would be considered to have failed, although the regulations would allow such a person to apply for admission again.
The rules would also provide for resits for trainees who fail examinable units, subject to payment of the prescribed fee.
Trainees who fail to pass a particular unit within three years of their first attempt could be required to retake the unit. They would then have an additional two years within which to complete their resits.
Six-month pupillage remains
The proposed reforms would retain the requirement for a six-month full-time pupillage period under the supervision of an advocate trainer.
Trainees would also be required to maintain workbooks documenting the assignments and activities undertaken during pupillage.
The requirement is intended to ensure that professional legal training extends beyond classroom instruction and gives trainees practical exposure to legal practice.
What happens to KSL?
Although the reforms would open the ATP to other accredited institutions, KSL would not immediately cease to administer the programme.
The proposed framework provides for the transition of KSL, which remains legally mandated to administer the ATP.
Attorney General Dorcas Oduor said the regulations would address years of uncertainty surrounding admission to professional legal training while creating room for additional institutions to participate.
She said the framework would give effect to the Court of Appeal decision while establishing standards for training providers and an orderly accreditation process.
“For many aspiring advocates, the transition from university to professional legal training has, for some time, been characterised by uncertainty,” Oduor said.
The Attorney General said the transition must also protect students already enrolled in the system and prevent reforms from creating further uncertainty for law graduates and trainees.
Government backs reforms
Oduor said the ultimate objective was to ensure that Kenya’s legal education system produces advocates capable of meeting professional and ethical standards.
“The advocates we train must possess the competence, ethical grounding and professional judgment necessary to protect rights, uphold the rule of law and serve the public effectively,” she said.
For thousands of law graduates seeking admission to the ATP, the proposed transition mechanism could also provide a temporary route into professional training for those currently locked out by existing admission requirements.
The regulations remain proposals and their implementation will depend on the completion of the applicable regulatory process.
