Perception of the private legal practitioners in Nairobi on the quality of services offered by the Kenyan judiciary

Abstract

Achieving and maintaining customer-perceived service quality is regarded as essential strategy for the successful provision of overall customer satisfaction and customer retention in today's competitive environment. The measurement of perceived service quality is commonplace in service industries today as it is considered fundamental for the long term survival of service providers. The objective of this study was to determine the perception of the private legal practitioners in Nairobi on the quality of service offered by the Kenyan Judiciary. To achieve this objective the study examined the dimensions of perceived service quality included in the SERVQUAL model. A sample of a 100 private legal practitioners was chosen through convenience sampling. The data was collected through semi structured questionnaires which were self administered through drop and pick method. Questionnaires were sent to 100 respondents and responses were received from 90 private legal Practitioners. The data collected was analysed using percentages and means. Tables were used for analysis. Analysis of the data showed that the expected service quality on all the dimensions of service quality is relatively high amongst the respondents. There are many similarities and some differences in the perspectives of stakeholders about the importance and service expectations in the judiciary. Overall, reliability of services is the most important of the service factors. Emphasis on service quality responds to current demands for increased accountability and the promised services, dependably and accurately. However, the service quality determinants which were deemed most important by the private legal practitioners were also reported to have a high service gap. There were gaps in all service elements under study. Several recommendations were made based on the results of the study. The Judiciary in Kenya needs to work on the perceptions of the private legal practitioners who are a key stakeholders group in order to improve its service quality. The Judiciary should engage in development service quality strategies which involve the study of perceptions of its key users especially the private legal practitioners. It is important for courts to be equipped with the latest technology inorder to handle the increasing workload reliably. The judiciary needs to have a public relation department to address complaints and give feedback to its users. The major limitations of the study were that the study was restricted to the private legal practitioners in Nairobi. Further, it considered the courts in general whereas several categories of the courts, High court, Court of Appeal and Subordinate courts would have been considered separately. To overcome the limitations, further research may be done based on the perception of private legal practitioners in other regions in Kenya. Further the services offered by the Judiciary may be divided according to the various levels of courts, Court of Appeal, High Court and Subordinate Courts.