The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) is established pursuant to Article 157 of the Constitution of Kenya. The DPP is vested with state powers of prosecution, which include instituting, undertaking, and discontinuing criminal proceedings in all courts in Kenya other than the Court Martial. The DPP is also empowered to direct investigative agencies to undertake investigations into allegations of criminal misconduct. Beyond these Constitutional mandates, the ODPP Act also vests the DPP with other roles which include promoting appropriate standards for the practice of public prosecutions, implementing an effective prosecution mechanism to maintain the rule of law and contribute to fair and equitable criminal justice and cooperating with stakeholders to ensure fairness and effectiveness of public prosecutions. The DPP is the official advisor to the state on all matters relating to the administration of criminal justice.
In 2020, the DPP developed the Decision to Charge guidelines to standardise the exercise of prosecutorial discretion. The guidelines have streamlined and standardised the process by which prosecutors make charging decisions. Despite the gains achieved by applying the guidelines, prosecutors remain overwhelmed by the volume of evidentiary material they must review before making a charging decision. This significantly undermines efficiency, as the existing human resources are not commensurate with the available work.
This capstone provides a scalable blueprint, through the integration of AI into the existing Uadilifu case management system, the capstone project proposes to strengthen evidentiary integrity, increase public confidence in the rule of law, and ensure that the right to a trial without unreasonable delay becomes a practical reality rather than just a constitutional ideal.