Tenthlining Rules in Kenya

The legal framework

The Kenyan Court of Appeal operates under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act and the Court of Appeal Rules (made under that Act). The Court also issues Practice Directions that set out formatting and procedural requirements for documents filed before it.

The requirement for line numbering in court documents at the appellate level has been established through these Practice Directions. The court registry uses these requirements as the basis for checking submitted documents before they are accepted.

What the tenth lining requirement means in practice

In practical terms, the tenth lining requirement means that documents such as Records of Appeal must carry a number in the right-hand margin at every tenth line — 10, 20, 30, and so on — throughout each page of the document.

The purpose is precision in cross-referencing. When the bench or opposing advocate refers to a line, everyone in the courtroom can find it quickly without ambiguity. This becomes especially important in complex appeals where the record runs to many pages across multiple volumes.

What WakiliGO does — and what it does not do

WakiliGO is a software tool that automates the process of adding line numbers to a PDF document. Specifically, it adds numbers at every tenth line in the right-hand margin of the document.

WakiliGO is not a legal compliance verification service. It does not review your document for substantive content, check that the record is complete, or certify that the document will be accepted by any court registry. Whether a specific document meets the requirements for a particular filing remains the responsibility of the advocate.

What WakiliGO does is remove the manual labour of counting and stamping lines by hand — a time-consuming process that is prone to errors on long documents.

Where to verify the current rules

Because court rules and practice directions can be amended, advocates should verify the current requirements directly from authoritative sources:

• The Court of Appeal Rules (current edition)
• Practice Directions issued by the Court of Appeal
• The court registry at the relevant station (Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Nyeri, or Malindi)

If there is any doubt about whether a specific formatting detail meets the current requirements, consulting the registry directly before filing is always advisable.