Chief Justice admits to failing systems
Chakalisa Dube | Friday November 16, 2018 13:37
Then, the two systems were to address a plethora of challenges ranging from backlog of cases and delays in the delivery of judgements. The country’s legal system also faced challenges of delays in the transcription of proceedings and glitches in service delivery amongst others.
However, when delivering a keynote address at the Administration of Justice (AoJ) stakeholder conference in Francistown this week, Chief Justice Terrence Rannowane, made a rare admission.
He said the two systems have not delivered the much-needed results owing to some factors.
“We have to concede that some of our working methods require re-engineering. Reforms such as the Judicial Case Management and Court Record Management systems have not, as originally envisaged, been complemented by the reforms such as Court Annexed Mediation (CAM), e-Filing respectively, to unbottle and address some of the noted challenges,” Rannowane said.
The CRM is a computerised system allowing automatic assignment of cases to judges in line with the requirements of the JCM.
Amongst others, it also allows users to search for specific documents/pleadings, thus saving a lot of time in the process. The JCM was also introduced to increase efficiency and turnaround time in the courts. But reports of inefficiency within the judiciary have been persistent in recent years despite the introduction of the CRM and JCM.
Rannowane further noted that for the CRM and JCM to work efficiently, strategies must be put in place to ensure that there is coordination amongst all the key players in the life of the flow of cases from their infancy.
“We are really concerned about the existence of a huge backlog of cases of pending criminal cases particularly at the magistrate courts, the coalface of our judiciary. Delays in any system frustrate and erode public confidence,” Rannowane said.
According to the Chief Justice, plans are in place to ensure that systems that are supposed to complement the CRM and JCM function accordingly.
“Our combined rules committee is dealing with the amendment of rules to amongst others usher in Court Annexed Mediation and e-Filing to further improve and expedite disposal of cases. I expect the submission of the draft rules before the end of this month. Once the rules are enacted, we expect to operationalise the program next year,” he said.
Rannowane further said that the AoJ is on the verge of rolling out Real Time Reporting to designated courts to address issues of backlog in the transcription of proceedings and the hearing of appeals.
The AoJ has also often complained of shortage of personnel and infrastructure but the Chief Justice warned that the expansion of staff and improvement of infrastructure may only provide temporal relief.
He said there was need for all workers at the AoJ to deal with their work ethic and culture to revolutionise the country’s judiciary.
“I hope that the government will avail enough resources for the judiciary to implement the reforms which are expected to help improve service delivery,” Rannowane said.