Regional Chief Justices call for speedy justice

Chief Justices from partner states of the East African Community (EAC) have called for a more incorruptible and transparent judiciary system in the region that can deliver affordable and timely justice to all East Africans.Speaking at the third meeting of EAC Chief Justices in Dar es Salaam, Monday, Tanzania’s Chief Justice, Mohamed Chande Othman, warned that weak law enforcement leads to higher crime rates in society.“…As the Constitutional authority with final decision in the dispensation of justice, our Judiciaries must reposition themselves and reframe a directional change. We must aim at affording and providing the highest standards of justice. Public confidence and trust in the Judiciary is vital to enhancing the rule of law, and to our own survival and legitimacy,” he said.The meeting was attended by judicial officers from Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and the host Tanzania, under the theme, Judicial Reform.“One key reason why an acute and continuous need for judicial reform arises is that in most of our countries, what we supply or have been offering so far is less than what is demanded of us or that which is legitimately expected by the increasingly informed public,” Chande Othman remarked.He stressed that meaningful judicial reform needs to be comprehensive, incorporating reforms in and by other Law Enforcement Agencies, including the police, prisons, prosecution and the Bar.To realise durable outcome, he said, it requires vision, strategic planning and prioritisation; not adhoc initiatives. “It [reform] must be led and backed by a powerful commitment by the leadership of the Judiciary, and of the Government, particularly in ensuring the provision of adequate, necessary and a steady flow of resources-financial and others.”Judicial reforms refer to the broad spectrum of directed changes - short, medium and long-term - aimed at improving the functioning, operation and delivery of the justice system as a whole, including the Courts.Othman added that it is in recognition of this that the judiciaries in the region have embarked on various reforms meant to enhance the dispensation of justice in criminal, civil, commercial, juvenile, land and labour cases.The introduction of commercial courts, mass training of law professionals and electronic filing and hearing of cases are among the judicial reforms which have recently been made in Rwanda.Relating to the EAC, Chande observed that regional judiciaries have been a bit lukewarm on judicial and court related reforms geared towards the proper servicing of the economic and monetary integration process. “How many of our judicial officers can be said to be conversant with Community Laws? he asked. “Surely, we are making some headway on continued legal and judicial education, but we seriously need to embark on judicial reforms that prepare our judiciaries to deliver efficient, effective and timely justice better as an East African Community.”The EAC Deputy Secretary General, (in charge of political federation), Beatrice Kiraso, said the region must work to restore citizens’ confidence in the national courts and judicial systems.‘’Of late we have seen more and more people turning to EACJ (East African Court of Justice) to handle human rights and governance related cases, while on the other hand our governments are not keen to explicitly allow it such jurisdiction,’’ Kiraso said.Legal experts have identified lack of public confidence and trust in the Judiciary in enhancing the rule of law as the main cause of mob justice in various East African countries.

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Regional Chief Justices call for speedy justice