The Court of Appeal has temporarily suspended the High Court orders directing President Uhuru Kenyatta to appoint the six judges within 14 days.
The order comes pending an application by Kenyatta seeking to reverse a decision directing him to swear in six judges he left out in June.
A three-judge Bench appointed by the Court of Appeal President Daniel Musinga says they will issue a detailed ruling on the matter in two weeks.
“Given the delicate nature of issues involved, we shall grant a temporary stay as we prepare the ruling,” said the judges.
In a decision last month, a bench of three judges gave the President 14 days to appoint the judges, failure to which they will be deemed to have been appointed to the respective positions.
The six judges left out when the President appointed 34 others are High Court judges Aggrey Muchelule, George Odunga, Weldon Korir and Joel Ngugi.
The four had been recommended by Judicial Service Commission to join the Appellate court.
President Kenyatta also left out chief magistrate Evans Makori and High Court registrar Judith Omange, who were recommended to be judges of the labour court.
Through lawyer Waweru Gatonye, Kenyatta argued that the appeal was extremely urgent because there is eminent danger of embarrassment and uncertainty in the dispensation of justice if the six judges are deemed to have been appointed as directed by the High Court.
“The Judgment is clearly an attempt to rewrite or otherwise amend the constitution in a manner not contemplated under chapter 16 of the constitution,” Gatonye said in the appeal.
He argues that the order will cause uncertainty over the legality of proceedings to be handled by the said judges if the High Court decision stands and might expose Kenyans to ‘unmitigated harm and anguish’ in the event the intended appeal is successful.
The Court of Appeal directed Gatonye to serve JSC, Attorney General, Kenya Judges and Magistrates Association and Katiba Institute with the court documents immediately.