No top lawyers, attorneys for magistrates� posts

Mpho Mokwape | Wednesday June 3, 2015 15:10

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) member and Selebi-Phikwe West legislator Dithapelo Keorapetse recently said failure by the AoJ to create a lucrative market for magistrates had impacted negatively in attracting top lawyers and attorneys who are well experienced and established.

“Magistrates posts are always filled by inexperienced people because the job itself is not lucrative enough to attract those experienced and this kills the administration of justice,” he said.

He explained that magistrates’ positions should be able to attract well-experienced lawyers and attorneys who could share their expertise in order to improve the AoJ and to restore public trust.

Keorapetse said it was always going to be difficult for a magistrate who is fresh from training to stand against some of the country’s well-experienced lawyers and attorneys and subsequently do well.

“Imagine a top attorney in this country having to stand against a magistrate with only an LLB and less experience in the field, there is no chance for the inexperienced at all. There needs to be review of appointment of magistrates” he said. This arose when PAC member and Nata-Gweta legislator, Polson Majaga enquired about the living and working conditions of magistrates in the country.

He had wanted to know how far the AoJ had gone in improving the living and working conditions of magistrates in the past years.

 “In the past it has been a struggle for the magistrates as their working conditions had not been very conducive and it will be good to know how far you have gone in improving the condition,” he said.

He explained that in the past magistrates had been living and working under appalling conditions which in turn impacted negatively in administering justice to their full capacity.

In his response, Registrar and Master of the High Court, Michael Motlhabi said there had been some changes in improving the working conditions of magistrates in the country.

“A little has been done in the past to improve the conditions, but at the moment there is nothing in place. We’ve been collecting some data on the issue because we want to approach the government with a solid proposal,” he said.  Motlhabi acknowledged that most magistrates were inexperienced, however he said a lot was being done, including the normal training that magistrates are taken through when they get employed.

He also said they often outline certain requirements for the post before considering anyone and that applicants should have certain experience in the field.

For the job not attracting top lawyers and attorneys, Motlhabi explained that most of them were well established and doing so well in their respective practice to even think or consider joining the government.

“Top attorneys in this country are often those that are well-established with a large clientele and no matter what, I don’t see them leaving their establishments to work for someone else,” he said.He noted that the review on the appointment of magistrates could only be done through the judicial commission which does the appointing, but he welcomed a suggestion to consider improving the working conditions of magistrates in future.