How to Format Pleadings for the Kenyan High Court Registry

A pleading rejected at the registry for formatting, not substance, wastes a trip and, on a deadline day, can cost you the filing window entirely. The High Court's 2022 Practice Directions to Standardize Practice and Procedures set out exactly what a compliant pleading looks like. This guide walks through the actual steps, in order, so you can check a document before you print or upload it rather than finding out at the counter.

Step 1: Set the paper size and margins

Set your document to A4 paper. Under Paragraph 9 of the practice directions, margins should be 1.5 inches on the top and bottom, and 1.75 inches on the left. There's no measurement given for the right margin, so a standard default there is fine. Set this once as a page-layout template rather than adjusting it document by document.

Step 2: Set the font, size, and spacing

Also under Paragraph 9, the accepted fonts are Times New Roman, Arial, or Century Gothic, at size 12, in black. Text should be fully justified (aligned to both the left and right margins, not just the left), with 1.5 line spacing throughout. Pick one font for your firm's standard template rather than switching between the three depending on who drafted the document. Consistency across a firm's filings is worth more than which of the three approved fonts you happen to use.

Step 3: Match the case heading to the e-filing system's format

Paragraph 10 requires the case heading to follow the format set out in the Judiciary's electronic filing system. This is worth checking directly against the current e-filing portal rather than copying an older precedent, since the practice direction points to the system itself as the authority, not a fixed template frozen in 2022. If your firm's heading template hasn't been checked against the portal recently, do that before relying on it for a new filing.

Step 4: Number pages and annexures in the correct corners

Under Paragraph 11, ordinary pleadings need page numbers at the bottom right-hand corner. Annexures attached to those pleadings are numbered separately, at the top right-hand corner. These two numbering schemes are easy to mix up if you're used to a different court's convention, so check the corner, not just whether a number is present.

Step 5: Confirm whether tenthlining applies to this specific document

This is the step people get wrong most often. Ordinary pleadings filed at the High Court under these 2022 directions do not require every-tenth-line margin numbering. That requirement is scoped specifically to Records of Appeal for civil appeals under Paragraph 14, not to pleadings generally. If you're drafting a plaint, defence, or affidavit for the High Court itself, page numbering under Paragraph 11 is what's required. If you're assembling a Record of Appeal, you need both page numbering and every-tenth-line margin numbering. Check which document you're actually preparing before deciding whether to apply it.

Step 6: Handle binding for longer documents

If you're preparing a Record of Appeal that runs over 500 pages, Paragraph 14 requires it to be split into separate bound volumes of 500 pages or fewer, each with its own index of contents. This isn't relevant to a typical pleading, but it matters for larger appeal records, so check the page count before binding as a single volume.

Step 7: Run a final checklist before filing

Before printing or submitting through e-filing, confirm:

• A4 paper, correct margins (1.5" top/bottom, 1.75" left)
• Times New Roman, Arial, or Century Gothic, size 12, black, fully justified, 1.5 line spacing
• Case heading matches the current e-filing system format
• Pages numbered bottom right, annexures numbered top right
• Every-tenth-line margin numbering applied only if the document is a Record of Appeal
• Bound in volumes of 500 pages or fewer if it's a Record of Appeal over that length

Applying the numbering without redoing your draft

If your pleading does need every-tenth-line numbering because it's part of a Record of Appeal, apply that as a final step on the finished PDF rather than trying to count and mark lines manually while drafting. Tenthliner adds court-compliant line and page numbering to an existing PDF without touching the typed content, which keeps the numbering accurate even if the document goes through another round of edits before that final step.

For the full breakdown of what else the High Court's 2022 directions cover, including paragraphs on case management and e-filing, see High Court Practice Directions 2022 for Litigation Clerks. If you're filing electronically, E-Filing in Kenya: Formatting Rules Advocates Should Know covers what the portal itself expects on top of these formatting rules.