The World recognizes Dr. Kariuki Muigua as a leading Environmental Law, Governance and Dispute Resolution Scholar as evidenced by his recent nomination as Member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration. The appointment of Dr. Kariuki Muigua as Member of PCA is proof of his “known competency in questions of international law” and his “highest moral reputation.” At the same time, Africa as a Continent has recognized Dr. Kariuki Muigua as a leading Environmental Law and Dispute Resolution Practitioner as confirmed by his award of both African Arbitrator of the Year 2022 and African ADR Practitioner of the Year 2022 for his exploits in ADR and especially in handling Environmental and Natural Resources Disputes. At the National Level, Dr. Kariuki Muigua has scooped lifetime awards both for excellence as ADR Practitioner and as a Member of the National Environmental Tribunal, the leading tribunal by number of decisions made in Kenya.

The question, then is, what is next for Dr. Kariuki Muigua? As a Member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration, Dr. Kariuki Muigua is in the distinguished company of not less than 80 Professors of Law, Current and Former Chief Justices, Current and Former Chief Justices, Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Distinguished Current and Former Ambassadors from around the world as well as leading legal practitioners in their respective jurisdictions. This begs the question: Is it now the time for Dr. Kariuki Muigua to be venerated and celebrated at home by his peers at the University of Nairobi and at the Law Society of Kenya as a Professor of Law and Senior Counsel respectively.

It is informative that Dr. Kariuki Muigua is one of the few distinguished law practitioners in Kenya who can boast having a Pupil in the Roll of Senior Counsel before making it to the upper echelon of the bar himself. Surely, one must be Senior Counsel material to mentor their protégé into Senior Counsel. AS regards Professorship, Dr. Kariuki Muigua is arguably one of the most published Law Scholars in Kenya and Environmental Law Scholars around the World. Dr. Kariuki Muigua is author of dozen Environmental Law and Dispute Resolution Books and over hundred peer reviewed journal articles and book chapters. He has supervised handful of PhDs Students in the area of Environmental Law, Environmental Studies and Dispute Resolution.

Indeed, as the African Arbitrator of the Year 2022, Dr. Kariuki Muigua, PhD is more than just an Arbitrator, he has earned his reputation as a distinguished legal practitioner in Kenya and a leading environmental scholar in Africa and the world. In addition to the many accolades and awards given to Dr. Kariuki Muigua over the years, he has researched extensively and published widely on environmental law and practice and is a Senior Lecturer in the practice area at University of Nairobi. Dr. Kariuki Muigua has supervised researchers on environmental law and undertaken numerous consultancies in the area. He is also a respected environmental law jurist as the LSK Representative Member at the National Environment Tribunal. Having been in environmental law scholarship for over 20 years, it begs the question: Is it time for Dr. Kariuki Muigua to become Professor of Environmental Law and Senior Counsel?

Dr. Kariuki Muigua stands out as one of the most distinguished environmental law scholars in Africa and one of the foremost experts in Environmental law, environmental justice, sustainable development and natural resources conflict management in Africa and the World. As a specialist scholar in environmental law and natural resources conflicts/disputes resolution, Dr. Kariuki Muigua is highly esteemed by many in environmental law and conflict management circles as a scholar, academic, author, dispute resolution expert, mentor and consultant. He has supervised and examined a handful of PhDs on environmental and natural resources law and conflict management in the last 5 years and more than a dozen Masters of Law and Arts students specializing in environmental law and policy, dispute resolution and conflict management.

In the last decade, Dr. Muigua has earned the esteem and pride of place among leading scholars and experts for his efforts in research and scholarship in the areas of Environmental and Natural Resources Law, Environmental Law Governance, Human Rights and Constitutionalism, Environmental Justice and Conflict Resolution. He has written extensively and is at the forefront in exploring the nexus between environmental law and human rights, Land and natural resource rights, economic law and policy of governments with regard to environmental law and economics. His research in environmental law and conflict management including dozens of refereed journal articles have received hundreds of scholarly citations in the last five (5) years.

As an author in Environmental Law, Dr. Muigua has authored at least ten (10) books in Environmental Law and Governance. In particular, he is the co-author of the book “Natural Resources and Environmental Justice in Kenya” (2015), author of Nurturing Our Environment for Sustainable Development (2016), Securing Our Destiny through Effective Management of the Environment (2020) and Achieving Sustainable Development, Peace and Environmental Security (2021) which was hailed by reviewers as “a must read for students, teaching fraternity, members of the bar and the bench, legislators, policy makers, environmentalists and the public in general.” Further, he is the author of Fostering Environmental Democracy and Biodiversity Conservation (2021), Exploring Conflict Management in Environmental Matters (2022), Attaining Environmental Justice for Prosperity, Volume 1 and Volume 2 (2022), Nurturing Our Environment for a Green Tomorrow (2023) and Realizing True Sustainable Development (2023).

Dr. Muigua has also collaborated extensively with various environmental advocacy groups in Kenya and regionally. He advocates the setting up of effective policy, legislative and institutional frameworks for the resolution of environmental conflicts. He is an ardent commentator and contributor to debates on sustainable development goals and has worked closely with many stakeholders in the areas of environmental access to Justice. He has also made learned presentations on environmental law to various interest groups and organizations in his capacity as an authority in the area.

Dr. Kariuki Muigua is also an Environmental Consultant, an Accomplished mediator and a Chartered arbitrator who has resolved numerous disputes touching on natural resources and extractives industry. He works with professionals in the environmental field especially in the areas of Environmental Resources and their management through Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), Mediation and Public Participation. He is a Member of the National Environment Tribunal, the lead statutory adjudication body for environmental disputes in Kenya, from 2017 as Nominee of the Law Society of Kenya.

Dr. Muigua completed his PhD in Law Thesis a decade ago at the University of Nairobi researching on “Resolving Environmental Conflicts in Kenya through Mediation” focusing on the areas of Public Participation, Mediation and Environmental Democracy. His Masters Dissertation was titled “The Resolution of Natural Resource Conflicts in Kenya through Arbitration and Mediation.” He has received widespread training and experience in both international environmental law and alternative dispute resolution and conflict management over the years.

Dr. Muigua teaches environmental law at the University of Nairobi Faculty School of Law, Centre for Advanced Studies in Environmental Law and Policy (CASELAP) and the Wangari Maathai Institute for Peace and Environmental Studies in the University of Nairobi. He has also facilitated seminars on Environmental Conflicts and ADR, Environment and Conflict Prevention and Environmental Impact Assessment and Environmental Audit among others. He has written several consultancy reports on environment and natural resources management whose recommendations are in application in Kenya and beyond.

Besides being an environmental law scholar and practitioner, Dr. Kariuki Muigua is the Managing Partner of Kariuki Muigua & Company Advocates and is highly esteemed as a Senior Advocate of more than 30 years standing in Kenya. Dr. Muigua is also a Chartered Arbitrator, Fellow of Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, Fellow Institute of Certified Secretaries of Kenya and Member of the Kenya Institute of Management of Kenya. He has been ranked by the prestigious Chambers and Partners Directory as one of the top-ten Arbitrators in Kenya for the last three years.

Dr. Kariuki Muigua was the Africa Trustee of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (UK) 2019-2022 and the Inaugural ADR Lifetime Award Winner awarded by the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (Kenya Branch) for his immense contribution to alternative dispute resolution (ADR) Practice in Kenya and across Africa. Dr. Kariuki Muigua was also awarded the ADR Practitioner of the Year Award by the Law Society of Kenya (Nairobi Branch) for his efforts in fostering ADR Practice among lawyers through excellence, mentorship and training. In addition, Dr. Kariuki Muigua was feted as the ADR Publisher of the Year by CIArb (Kenya) for his scholarship and editorial prowess in the area of ADR.

Dr. Kariuki Muigua stands out as one of the most distinguished environmental law scholars in Africa and one of the foremost experts in Environmental law, environmental justice, sustainable development and natural resources conflict management in the World today. As a specialist scholar in environmental law and natural resources conflicts management and disputes resolution, Dr. Kariuki Muigua is highly esteemed by many in environmental law and conflict management circles as a scholar, academic, author, dispute resolution expert, mentor and consultant. He is one of the few holders of specialist PhD in Environmental Dispute Resolution which will come handy as he set to play a great role in arbitration of natural resources and environmental disputes under the auspices of the Permanent Court of Arbitration as a member of the premier global dispute resolution body nominated by the Republic of Kenya.

The Permanent Court of Arbitration has developed Optional Rules for Arbitration of Disputes Relating to Natural Resources and/or the Environment that provide for the establishment of a specialized list of arbitrators who are considered to have expertise in the area of Environmental and Natural Resources Dispute Resolution, the specialist area of expertise of Dr. Kariuki Muigua, PhD having handled numerous international Environmental, Oil and gas/Extractives Disputes Arbitrations and Mediations around the World as a Member of ICC, CIArb and LCIA Panels. The Rules also provide for the establishment of a list of scientific and technical experts who may be appointed as expert witnesses pursuant to these Rules. The Members of the Court need not be listed in the Natural Resources and/or the Environment Disputes Resolution List as Parties to such disputes have discretion to also choose from arbitrators listed as Members of the PCA. In any case, parties to a dispute may, but are not obliged to, choose arbitrators, conciliators and expert witnesses from these Panels.

In the last decade, Dr. Muigua has earned the esteem and pride of place among leading scholars and experts for his efforts in research and scholarship in the areas of Environmental and Natural Resources Law, Environmental Law Governance, Human Rights and Constitutionalism, Environmental Justice and Conflict Resolution. He has written extensively and is at the forefront in exploring the nexus between environmental law and human rights, Land and natural resource rights, economic law and policy of governments with regard to environmental law and economics. His research in environmental law and conflict management including dozens of refereed journal articles have received hundreds of scholarly citations in the last five (5) years. He has supervised and examined several PhDs on environmental and natural resources law and conflict management as well as more than a dozen Masters of Law and Arts students specializing in environmental law and policy, dispute resolution and conflict management.

As an author in Environmental Law, Dr. Muigua has authored numerous books and leading textbooks in the area of environmental and natural resources law, justice and dispute resolution. In 2023, Dr. Kariuki Muigua has authored two published books on Sustainable Development and Environmental Management, namely, Realizing True Sustainable Development and Nurturing Our Environment for a Green Tomorrow. In addition, Dr. Muigua has contributed over dozen published book chapters in environmental law and dispute resolution in environmental governance.  He has also published dozen of articles in peer-reviewed local, regional and international journals on environmental law, environmental justice, natural resources management, sustainable development and environmental conflicts/disputes resolution. Dr. Muigua is the Founding and Managing Editor of the Journal of Conflict Management and Sustainable Development now in its eight volume after seven (8) years of publication.

Dr. Kariuki Muigua is also an Environmental Consultant, an Accomplished mediator and a Chartered arbitrator who has resolved numerous disputes touching on natural resources and extractives industry. He works with professionals in the environmental field especially in the areas of Environmental Resources and their management through Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), Mediation and Public Participation. He served as a Member of the National Environment Tribunal, the lead statutory adjudication body for environmental disputes in Kenya, from 2017 as Nominee of the Law Society of Kenya. Dr. Muigua has also collaborated extensively with various environmental advocacy groups in Kenya and regionally in the setting up of effective policy, legislative and institutional frameworks for the resolution of environmental conflicts. He is an ardent commentator and contributor to debates on sustainable development goals and has worked closely with many stakeholders in the areas of environmental access to Justice.

Dr. Muigua completed his PhD in Law Thesis a decade ago at the University of Nairobi researching on “Resolving Environmental Conflicts in Kenya through Mediation” focusing on the areas of Public Participation, Mediation and Environmental Democracy. His Masters Dissertation was titled “The Resolution of Natural Resource Conflicts in Kenya through Arbitration and Mediation.” He has received widespread training and experience in both international environmental law and alternative dispute resolution and conflict management over the years. Dr. Muigua teaches environmental law at the University of Nairobi Faculty School of Law, Centre for Advanced Studies in Environmental Law and Policy (CASELAP) and the Wangari Maathai Institute for Peace and Environmental Studies in the University of Nairobi. He has also facilitated seminars on Environmental Conflicts and ADR, Environment and Conflict Prevention and Environmental Impact Assessment and Environmental Audit among others. He has written several consultancy reports on environment and natural resources management whose recommendations are in application in Kenya and beyond.

Africa’s Leading Arbitrator and Kenya’s Top Dispute Resolution Guru Dr. Kariuki Muigua was recently nominated by the Government of the Republic of Kenya as one of its four representative members to the prestigious Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) based at The Hague. This latest accolade has been hailed by peers and legal industry analysts as yet another confirmation that Dr. Muigua has entered and entrenched himself in the exclusive league of international ADR practitioners. Dr. Muigua was not only Africa’s Trustee (2019 to 2022) to the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIARB) but was also the first person to win the two highest Arbitration Awards in Africa in the same year. To be sure, in March 2022, Dr. Kariuki Muigua won the African Arbitrator of the Year 2022 and followed it with the African Arbitration Association (AfAA) ADR Practitioner of the Year 2022 in November 2022.

The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) is the world’s premier Arbitration Institution which enjoys the status of an Intergovernmental Organization. The PCA provides administrative support in international arbitrations involving various combinations of states, state entities, international organizations and private parties. However, its functions are not limited to arbitration and include providing support in other forms of peaceful resolution of international disputes, including mediation, conciliation, and other forms of alternative dispute resolution (ADR). In turn, the members of the Court are potential arbitrators appointed by Contracting Parties. The other Kenyan members of PCA are Prof. Githu Muigai SC (Senior Counsel and Former Attorney General of Kenya now serving his Second Term at PCA), Dr. Kenneth Wyne Mutuma and Dr. Wilfred Mutubwa. Past Kenyan Members of PCA include Former Attorney General of Kenya and Busia Senator Hon Amos Wako SC, Former Chief Justice of Kenya Hon Dr. Willy Mutunga and First African Woman Member of International Law Commission since inception in 1947 Prof. Phoebe Okowa.

In view of this, there is no doubt the nomination of Dr. Kariuki by the Republic of Kenya as a Contracting Party state is proof that he meets the criteria for nominees which includes “known competency in questions of international law, of the highest moral reputation and disposed to accept the duties of arbitrators” as “Members of the Court.” Membership of PCA is so highly that in addition to forming a panel of potential arbitrators, the Members of the Court from each Contracting Party constitute a “national group,” which is entitled to nominate candidates for the election to the International Court of Justice in accordance with article 4(1) of the Statute of the International Court of Justice. In addition, the Members of the Court (along with the judges of the ICJ) are among a handful of groups entitled to nominate candidates for the Nobel Peace Prize.

The PCA itself offers a detailed profile of Dr. Kariuki Muigua as a justification of why he is one of the only four Kenyans who have been entrusted with this high office for a renewable term of six years. According to the PCA Website, “Dr. KARIUKI MUIGUA, PhD, C.Arb. Dr. Kariuki Muigua is a distinguished law scholar, Environmental Consultant, an accomplished mediator and a Chartered Arbitrator. He is a holder of a Ph. D in law from the University of Nairobi and with widespread training and experience in both international and national commercial arbitration and mediation. He served as the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb) Regional Trustee for Africa from 2019 to 2022.” The Permanent Court of Arbitration adds that Dr. Kariuki Muigua “is an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya of over 33 years standing and practicing at Kariuki Muigua & Co. Advocates. He has on various occasions been appointed by leading arbitral institutions including the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb-Kenya), the Nairobi Centre for International Arbitration (NCIA), the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) among other institutions, as both as a sole arbitrator and a member of arbitral tribunals in arbitrations involving commercial disputes.

The Court goes on to list the prestigious awards Dr. Kariuki Muigua has garnered over the years. It notes that: “He became the first winner of the Inaugural CIArb (Kenya Branch) ADR Lifetime Achievement Award 2021. He was also the winner of the ADR Practitioner of the Year Award 2021 given by the Nairobi LSK and the ADR Publisher of the Year 2021 awarded by CIArb Kenya. He was the winner of the African Arbitrator of the Year 2022 award at the 3rd African Arbitration Awards held at Kigali Rwanda beating other competitors from Egypt, Mauritius, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Kenya. The African Arbitrator of the Year award is the highest and most prestigious ADR and Arbitration Award in Africa.” As already noted, Dr. Kariuki Muigua was also the winner of the African Arbitration Association (AfAA) ADR Practitioner of the Year 2022 in November 2022.

The Hague court also acknowledges that its Member Dr. Kariuki Muigua is prolific and published author and that “his book, Settling Disputes through Arbitration in Kenya, 4th Edition; Glenwood publishers 2022, was awarded the Publication of the Year Award 2022…. He is the author of Alternative Dispute Resolution and Access to Justice in Kenya, (Glenwood Publishers, Nairobi, 2015) and Resolving Conflicts through Mediation in Kenya, (Glenwood Publishers, Nairobi, 2013) among other books.” Indeed, more than any other African Intellectual and Practitioner, Dr. Kariuki Muigua stands out as the leading author, editor and publisher in Environmental Law and Alternative Dispute Resolution with more than a dozen books and over 200 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters to his name in those areas. For his status as a leading expert and practitioner in Environmental Law in Kenya he was nominated by his peers and colleagues in Law Society of Kenya to represent them as a member of the National Environment Tribunal (NET) of Kenya, recently awarded the best performing Tribunal in Kenya for handling the most cases.

In 2023, Chambers and Partners Global Guide, for the third year in a row, ranked Dr. Kariuki Muigua Ph.D in Band 1 of Dispute Resolution (Arbitrators), among the Top 6 Arbitrators in Kenya for his “astute understanding of arbitration,” being “respected for his handling of litigation,” and having “a practice that touches upon commercial, constitutional and environmental law.” In 2022, Chambers and Partners Partners had also ranked Dr. Muigua in Band 1 noting that “He has been involved in several ground-breaking arbitrations,” “has an astute understanding of arbitration” and “is respected for litigation.”