‘We could do with more judges’
Our reporter George Singini interviewed Chief Justice Andrew Nyirenda on the challenges facing the Judiciary and how he intends to solve them.
Q: What is your overview of the justice situation in particular Mzuzu where there is only one judge and how do you intend to address problems facing the Judiciary?
A: As you are aware, the lawyers raised an alarm not too long back that they need a judge in Mzuzu because, you will recall, we had the late Justice Mwase who departed sometime back and he has not been replaced. Apart from the demise of Justice Mwase, the thinking is that the legal fraternity has grown in the Northern Region and litigation has also increased in the region. Court users have also raised concern that their cases are not moving as quickly as they should on account of the numbers of judges, including magistrates. I met the president of Malawi Law Society and his vice-president for Central and Northern Regions to discuss how best we can manage the situation. The immediate suggestion is that once in a while, perhaps twice in a month, we would have judges going to Mzuzu from Lilongwe, Zomba and Blantyre, but most likely Lilongwe because of the distance. We should also be thinking about getting a permanent judge or two for Mzuzu. Perhaps while we are waiting for appointments to be made, we can also think as an institution whether a judge or two can be transferred to Mzuzu and that for the time being will help us. As you might be aware, as I speak now, the High Court only has 22 judges, so to spare enough numbers of judges for all the court regions is quite a challenge for the Judiciary until a few more judges are recruited.
Q: Have there been any proposals about how many judges need to be appointed?
A: That remains a matter for consultation between the Judicial Service Commission, the office of the Chief Justice and the President. You might also be aware that employing a judge is not a cheap task, it comes with requirement of resources. The establishment provides for not less than 30 judges for the High Court. So for the time being if we are talking about numbers we are likely to engage four, five more judges in the nearest possible future.
Q:Will that address the complaints that are there on delivery of justice?
A: Like I have said, litigation has increased, not just here in Mzuzu but the other regions as well. We could do with more judges but perhaps with the numbers that I am talking about we might just begin to alleviate the problem but that will not be adequate I must be very frank with you. We could do much with more judges in the light of litigation that is being registered throughout the country.
Q: Is there any timeframe as to when people should expect more judges in Mzuzu where the problem seems to be severe?
A: Like I have said, the tentative arrangement of getting judges to go to Mzuzu will be immediate. I have already discussed the issue with the registrar; in the course of next week or the other week we should be able to have a judge come here and assist Justice Dingiswayo Madise. But in terms of engaging new judges that might take a bit of time, perhaps a month or two or slightly longer than that depending on procedures that the process takes.
Q: How is the Judiciary doing in terms of funding?
A: Like any other government institution these days we are grappling with issues of funding. But what I have suggested is that we should have an administrative caucus. And during the administrative caucus we should rationalise the little resources that we have so that the cake is shared proportionate to the needs of particular departments of the Judiciary and where we are lacking totally we should be able to put a case because sometimes you talk about money when you don’t have statistics to back up that request. We should be able to say to government this is where we are and, therefore, we have justification to insist on more resources.
Q: What is the current funding of Judiciary, how much do you need to be stable and how much was given last year?
A: We have projected between K7 billion (US$15.6) and K8 billion (US$17.8 million) but the indication I get from my registrar is that we are not getting close to that. Last year we got between K3 billion (US$6.7 million) and K4 billion (US$8.9 million). But we had over K1 billion (US$2.2million) for ORT; this year we thought we could get over K2 billion (US$4.4 million).
Q: Should we expect an improvement in justice delivery if your needs are not met?
A: Well, it is a challenge obviously. Like any other public service institution, we are service providers. If the needs are not met, we can only move ahead with what we have, which means other matters or other functions will be affected.
