Court fees in Kenya: the full schedule
Filing a case in Kenya costs between nothing and KSh 71,000, and which end you land on depends almost entirely on whether you are claiming a specific sum. This is the Judiciary's own Court Fees Assessment Schedule, all 220 items across 18 courts and divisions, set out so you can find your document rather than scroll a scanned PDF.
What your filing fee will be
Most of the schedule is flat fees. The one figure that moves with your case is the liquidated claim, and it moves in ten steps rather than smoothly.
A liquidated claim is one for a specific sum you can point to, such as an unpaid invoice. If you are asking the court to decide the amount, the claim is unliquidated and the fee is a flat KSh 2,000 at filing, with more to pay on whatever is awarded.
Filing fee under the Second Schedule
KSh 5,000
Band KSh 200,001 to KSh 500,000.
Show the whole band table
| Amount claimed | Fee |
|---|---|
| 0 to 200,000 | 2,000 |
| 200,001 to 500,000 | 5,000 |
| 500,001 to 1,050,000 | 10,000 |
| 1,050,001 to 1,100,000 | 20,000 |
| 1,100,001 to 1,150,000 | 30,000 |
| 1,150,001 to 1,200,000 | 40,000 |
| 1,200,001 to 1,250,000 | 50,000 |
| 1,250,001 to 1,300,000 | 60,000 |
| 1,300,001 to 1,400,000 | 70,000 |
| Above 1,400,000 | 71,000 |
Second Schedule to the Court Fees Assessment Schedule, in force from 1 July 2021. The registry assesses the fee, not this page. Use this to know roughly what to carry, then pay against the invoice the registry issues.
Fees by court
Each page below is one section of the schedule, reproduced in full with the documents each fee covers.
High Court
Eight divisions, each with its own fee list.
- A. High Court (Civil Cases)20 fee items
- B. High Court (Criminal Cases)7 fee items
- C. High Court (Family Cases)20 fee items
- D. High Court (Commercial and Tax Cases)19 fee items
- E. High Court (Admiralty Cases)7 fee items
- F. High Court (Judicial Review Cases)9 fee items
- G. High Court (Constitutional and Human Rights Cases)8 fee items
- H. High Court (Anti-Corruption And Economic Crimes Cases)15 fee items
Environment and Land Court
Land, title and environment disputes.
Magistrates' Courts
Civil, family, criminal, children and employment streams.
Kadhis' Courts
Muslim personal status: marriage, divorce, inheritance.
Tribunals
All tribunals except the eight the schedule excludes.
Court Annexed Mediation
Mediator accreditation and filing.
General fees
Fees that are not tied to one court.
What this schedule does not cover
The schedule names its own reach, and two gaps matter. There is no Supreme Court section and no Court of Appeal section in it. Some indexes of this document list both; the document itself does not, so anyone quoting you a Supreme Court filing fee from this schedule is quoting something that is not in it.
It also expressly does not apply to eight tribunals:
- Political Parties Dispute Tribunal
- Transport Licensing Appeals Board
- Industrial Property Tribunal
- Energy Tribunal
- Competition Tribunal
- Rent Restriction Tribunal
- Business Premises Rent Tribunal
- Cooperative Tribunal
Two of those, the Rent Restriction Tribunal and the Co-operative Tribunal, publish phone numbers in the Judiciary's station list, so they are reachable even though their fees sit elsewhere.
Paying the fee
Court fees are assessed first and paid second. You file, the registry assesses what is due and raises an invoice with its own reference, and you pay against that reference. That order matters: paying a number you found online before an invoice exists is how money ends up somewhere it cannot be traced to your case.
Reaching a court
The Judiciary publishes direct lines for 156 court stations, registries and offices. We have laid them out as a searchable list.
Court station phone directoryQuestions people ask
How much does it cost to file a case in Kenya?
It depends on what you are claiming. If you are claiming a specific sum, the fee comes off a band table: KSh 2,000 at the bottom, KSh 71,000 at the top for anything above KSh 1.4 million. If you are asking the court to decide the amount, filing is a flat KSh 2,000 and more is charged on whatever is awarded.
What is the maximum court filing fee in Kenya?
KSh 71,000. Many sources give the ceiling as KSh 70,000, which is the band immediately below it. The Second Schedule's last row applies to any claim above KSh 1,400,000.
Do children cases cost anything in a Magistrates court?
No. The schedule puts all children matters in the Magistrates courts at NIL.
Is there a fee to sue if you cannot afford one?
An application to sue as a pauper is listed at NIL, as are the application and the supporting affidavit. Filing a consent, withdrawing a suit, and applying to reconstruct a lost file are also NIL.
Are these court fees current in 2026?
They are the schedule the Judiciary currently publishes, and it took effect on 1 July 2021. We have found no newer gazetted schedule. Fees are assessed by the court registry, so treat these as what to expect rather than a quotation.
Where these figures come from
The Judiciary of Kenya, “Court Fees Assessment Schedule”, prepared by the Office of the Registrar, High Court. In force from 1 July 2021, revoking Gazette Notice No. 10181 of 2020, signed by Martha Koome, Chief Justice and President of the Supreme Court. Published at judiciary.go.ke.
The published file is a design export with no text layer, so every figure here was read off the page images by hand and checked against the section it sits in. Last checked 2026-09-14. If you find a figure that differs from what a registry tells you, tell us and we will re-read the page.
paybillke is an independent directory. We are not affiliated with the Judiciary of Kenya, and nothing here is legal advice. For your own case, talk to an advocate.