Lawyer faults magistrates� powers on contempt
Oarabile Mosikare | Tuesday September 9, 2014 11:55
He told a conference at the University of Botswana on Thursday that the powers of magistrates to cite the officers is contested.
In a paper titled: ‘Judicial Power to Imprison Officers of the Court for in Facie Curiae Contempt Of Court: Some Experiences in Botswana’, he faulted the summary way in which magistrates apply their powers to cite officers of court for contempt.
He said the orders from the magistrates do not usually follow the normal route where a charge sheet is presented, but have resulted from summary orders of court.
Maripe said that recently, there have been several reports of court officials having been committed to prison mainly at the instance of magistrates, as a show of displeasure of inappropriate conduct.
“This has raised many questions both as to the legality and or justification thereof. This article seeks to answer the questions raised, to the extent possible,” he wrote.
He added: “Officers of court, be they counsel or public prosecutors have at one point or another found themselves on the wrong side of the orders of court.
They have been cited for contempt of court, and in some cases, imprisoned following summary orders of court”. He said that while the High Court wields power to act on contempt cases, the parameters for the exercise thereof have not been definitively described.
“The situation is worse in the magistrates courts where the very existence of the power is contested,” he stated.
Maripe’s paper sought to establish the existence of the power of the courts to summarily imprison court officers for contempt, and the parameters for the exercise of the power.
“The conclusion reached is that the power is usually misapplied and that in the magistrates court, such power does not exist.
“A concomitant conclusion is that by sending court officers to prison for in facie curiae contempt of court, the magistrates would be acting ultra vires their powers,” he stated.