Court Sets Precedent on Virtual Hearing Disruptions

The Environment and Land Court at Isiolo has reinforced a key principle on virtual proceedings, stressing that courts must protect a litigant’s right to be heard even when technical failures occur beyond their control.

The dispute in Isaack Godana Boru v Samson Mburu alias Mzunguko [2026] ran in court since 2015 before a virtual hearing abruptly ended the matter when neither party responded.

The Plaintiff’s advocate later explained that she had already joined the session and was addressing the court when a brief power outage cut her connection, which forced her off the hearing.

“The Plaintiff’s advocate maintained that she had already joined the session and was addressing the court when a brief power outage caused the connection to drop,” the court stated.

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Court Overturns Dismissal and Faults Trial Magistrate

On appeal, Justice Oguttu Mboya disagreed with the trial court’s decision.

He found that the magistrate relied on incorrect legal provisions and exercised discretion improperly when dismissing a suit that had already reached partial hearing.

“The magistrate had exercised discretion improperly and had relied on the wrong provisions of the law to dismiss a suit that had already been partly heard,” the court stated in its findings

Further, the Court examined the issue of delay and rejected the trial court’s conclusion that the Plaintiff caused the slow progress of the case.

Instead, it pointed to the record and found that other proceedings contributed to the timeline.

“The lower court had failed to appreciate the explanation surrounding the technological interruption and had wrongly attributed delays to the Plaintiff despite the record showing that related proceedings had contributed to the slow pace of the case,” the court added.

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Substantive Justice Reinstated

Finally, the appellate court set aside the dismissal orders and reinstated the suit for fresh hearing before a different magistrate.

As a result, the ruling strengthened the position that courts should prioritize substantive justice over procedural setbacks, especially in an era of virtual hearings.

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Court reinstates Isaack Godana Boru’s case against Samson Mburu after a power outage disrupted a virtual hearing, affirming that justice must prevail over technical failures. PHOTO/ ROBA & ASSOCIATES LLP