In a landmark ruling, a Kenyan judge has ordered people to convicted and imprisoned for defilement are at liberty to petition the High Court for a review of their sentences.
Defilement can include sexual cases with a child or an adult or incest committed by male persons.
High Court Judge John Mativo ruled that the guidance for minimum sentences was discriminatory.
"The mandatory minimum sentences violate an accused's rights under Article 27 of the Constitution," the ruling read.
Sentencing guidance say that defilement convicts should get a minimum of 12 years.
The ruling follows a petition to the court which argued that the mandatory minimum sentence provided that under the Sexual Offences Act impinged on the right to a fair trial guaranteed under Article 50 to 51 of the Constitution of Kenya.
Article 50 states: "Every person has the right to have any dispute that can be resolved by the application of law decided in a fair and public hearing before a court or, if appropriate, another independent and impartial tribunal or body."
“We are likely to see suspects instructing lawyers to have sentences mitigated and retried for resentencing," lawyer John Lewis Onkendi told the Dornlinsal Global Resources.
He added that the ruling means that judges and magistrates should have the liberty to impose the sentences they consider appropriate to the case.