Lawyer decries lack of access to justice

Speaking at the Law Society of Botswana cocktail party to honour senior legal practitioners in Gaborone last Saturday, Doreen Khama said access to justice is a fundamental right, just like education and healthcare.

She urged legal brains in the country to issue an urgent call to government, lawyers and judges for action to find solutions to the access to justice 'crisis'. She lamented that the country's legal system has now become expensive and complicated for the vast majority of Batswana. She said it was the duty of lawyers to protect the independence of the bar from the state as this is the hallmark of a free society. She stated that the judiciary delivers service to the individual in the state and aims to protect fundamental values contained in the constitution.