CJ moves on special court, case delays

Recently, the Europena Union (EU) handed over the Chitipa Magistrate’s Court constructed under the Chilungamo Project. Our Mzuzu Bureau Supervisor JOSEPH MWALE engages CHIEF JUSTICE ANDREW NYIRENDA on how important the new structure is, and other issues relating to delays in concluding cases, but also steps being undertaken to come up with the much talked about financial crimes court.

JM: How important are these new structures in as far as access to justice is concerned, especially in rural areas like Chitipa?

CJ: Impressions matter. This magnificent building we are receiving from the people of the European Union under the Chilungamo Project adds value to dispensation of justice. It is a welcome building, one that is approachable by the community around and the general public.

You see a court like this one you feel welcome, and if you have issues, certainly you feel that you are going to be received. More importantly, it is also comfortable for our members of staff to work in an environment that is going to allow them to apply themselves to the fullest, because you can imagine we spend a lot of time in our work places. So, if you work at a place which is confined, you are working in an environment that is not enabling, you are not going to apply yourself to the fullest.  The building, being what it is—spacious inside—is going to allow members of staff to apply themselves or realise their full potential as judicial officers and members of staff.

JM: How committed is the Judiciary in ensuring that all people access the much-needed justice, and not just the privileged few?

CJ: Let me underscore that courts in this country, as protectors of human rights and the rule of law, will continue giving effect to the deep values, and the will of the people as expressed in the Republican Constitution and Acts of Parliament, by serving all manner of litigants who approach the corridors of justice. That includes the vulnerable groups—women, children, persons with disabilities, the elderly, persons with albinism, refugees, internally displaced persons, migrant workers and persons living with HIV and Aids. The Judiciary is alive to the fact that access to justice should never be a luxury and privilege for the elite. Justice must be available to all when in need. Commitment to the needs of the vulnerable communities must be our solemn duty and our value, lest we leave behind a greater part of our community.

JM: There have been complaints, especially in rural areas where Magistrates are not adequate. What are you doing about it?

CJ: Judiciary officers will never be enough, starting from judges all the way down to magistrates. But we are doing everything we can to make sure that we have the numbers. In the recent past we beefed up the number of judges, but some are retiring, so we need a few more judges, but magistrates as well. You know magistrates are the ones that do the bulk of our work, and I would suppose that three-quarters of our work is by magistrates in district courts as well as in satelite courts. So, the concerns raised are true and, fortunately for us, the numbers are coming up. We now have 58 more third grade magistrates we are going to deploy to satelite courts. We hope we will get more so that in those places where people require justice, we will be present.

JM: One other concern has been a huge backlog of cases. How are we progressing with that problem?

CJ: I cannot be specific, but we are digging in to the backlog, both in terms of confirmations, appeals, civil cases and others. People are going out into satellite courts, people are sitting outside the courtrooms, and that enables us not to confine ourselves to the centres where we are, but enables us to reach out to where people are.

Magistrates are going to prisons to decongest them. So, the backlog will be there, cases will keep on coming up, but we are trying as much as we can to reduce the backlog. We have come up with strategies and we continue to strategise to ensure that the backlog is ameliorated.

JM: Some people think there is too much delay on cases. The Malawi Law Society even wrote your office on this. How are you handling such complaints?

CJ: I agree. We have been talking with the Malawi Law Society. We have set up a task force that is going work with the Judiciary and Malawi Law Society so that we can try and find ways to minimise delays. The delays at High Court level is what Malawi Law Society is concerned with most, but also delays at every stage or every level of the Judiciary is not something that is acceptable and, therefore, we must do everything that we can. So, we hope that with the strides that we have put in place, we are going to find more lasting, or permanent, solutions to some of the delays. Yes, the delay is acknowledged, but we must continue working on such issues so that we find solutions. It is very difficult to give timelines on things such as delays because there are cases that have come a long way back, and it is not like we are at a standstill. Cases keep on coming, so while we are digging into the backlog and delays, we must continue receiving new cases. Therefore, sometimes it is a little difficult to give it a timeline, but we must be mindful that the longer these cases take, the more injustice is going to be occasioned to our people.

JM: Where are we on calls for the establishment of the Financial Crimes Court?

CJ: We are in the formative stage on that issue. There will be consultations that will have to be undertaken among stakeholder institutions such as Malawi Law Society (MLS), Ministry of Justice and Legal Aid, to see the feasibility of setting up those courts.

Obviously, let me say here, it would be a step in the right direction if we had those courts in place because they will help us deal with all these cases that are now stagnating. We are consulting, and we have put committees in place that are working on it. We hope that soon than later the whole initiative will have taken off. It is something that we must, in my view, undertake to accomplish.