The EAC Deputy Secretary General in charge of Political Federation, Beatrice Kiraso, on Tuesday called for strong regional judicial systems.

She made the call at the opening of the second annual meeting of EAC Chief Justices and judges in Nairobi.

Kiraso called on Partner States’ to jointly address various challenges the sector faces and noted that time had come to examine the efficiency and effectiveness of Partner States’ judicial mechanisms, so as to support increased activities of the EAC integration.

"Can we be brave enough to acknowledge that our judicial systems could be better?” Kiraso is quoted asking.

She stressed that the judiciary is at a vantage point to be an elemental player in the promotion of good governance given the interlink between the judiciary and all other pillars such as good governance, enforcing respect for human rights, the fight against corruption, abuse of power and in upholding the rule of law and access to justice.

"On the basis of this centrality, and with the realization that administration of justice is an important aspect of good governance, challenges that touch investigations, prosecution, the judiciary itself,  prisons, witnesses, among others, should be discussed and addressed”.

The meeting acknowledged the urgent need to strengthen the East African Court of Justice (EACJ) into a real regional court, a development that would offer the EAC an intermediate judicial opportunity between the national and international levels.

"As the integration deepens, probably a time has come to also think of developing your regional institution,” Kiraso added.

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