12 Apr 2016

Promoting the rule of law and equal access to justice has become an international value that is used to measure the standard of democracy or development in a country.

Speaking during a judicial colloquium in Gaborone on Monday April 11, the attorney general, Dr Athaliah Molokomme said this was not a new subject, given that it had occupied the minds of academics and practioners alike for several decades.

“Its presence, or lack thereof has been hotly debated in many contexts, countries, regions and indeed globally, this is why it is important that we do not use them loosely or carelessly, we must be very specific about what aspects of the rule of law we are looking at,” she said.

Dr Molokomme said a number of global indices had been developed to measure the performance of countries in their achievement of goals.

In 2015, she said, the global index ranked Botswana among the world’s most peaceful nations while Transparency International (TI) released its 2015 Corruption Perception Index in Berlin.

For the 20th in a row, Botswana was cited as being the least corrupt country in Africa as well as among the least corrupt countries in the world.

“The 2015 Ibrahim Index of African Governance (IIAG) shows that Botswana is once more third out of African countries but with a reduced score of 74.2 per cent as compared to 76.2 per cent in 2014,” she said.

The attorney general said the commitment of the judiciary under Vision 2016 was to promote a just, peaceful and inclusive society.

Justice Annah Mathiba told participants that in the judiciary, integrity was more than a virtue, adding that it was a necessity to be honest, free from deceit and falsehood.

She said it was important for judicial officers to be diligent in the performance of their duties, given that diligence was not primary concerned with expedition but skill, care, attention and reasonable promptness.

Justice Mathiba said there was need for  judges to have sufficient rest, vacation and leisure time to maintain physical and mental alertness.

Furthermore, she said judges should participate in continuing legal education so that they could have good knowledge of the law.

She also advised that judges should  channel their anger appropriately, no matter what the provocation, and in that situation judicial response should  be a judicious one.

“A judge should be above personal animosities and must not have favourites amongst lawyers appearing before the court and court staff should not be directed to perform inappropriate and excessive personal services for a judge beyond minor matters that conforms to established conventions,” Justice Mathiba said. ENDS