27 Nov 2017

Law Society of Botswana (LSB) has appealed to Judicial Service Commission (JSC) to consider appointing senior private attorneys to act on capacity of judges in an effort to reduce backlog of cases.

LSB chairperson, Mr Kgalalelo Manthe said in an interview that delay of cases was worrisome and stated that they believed that if the commission could appoint senior attorneys, they could assist a lot for the benefit of the public.

He said there were many senior attorneys who were ready to assist the judicial to fast-track cases, citing that temporary courts could be opened in such places as Maun and senior attorneys could perform other duties and leave trials to permanent judges.

He made the remarks during LSB retreat held in Maun, where some private attorneys concurred on the appointment of senior attorneys to speed up cases.

They said the delay, especially in criminal cases, was a serious concern due to shortage of prosecutors and court reporters.

They also complained about delay in delivery of judgments.

For his part, chairperson of the Judicial Case Management (JCM) committee, Justice Abendnico Tafa appreciated the job done by lawyers, noting that the judiciary did not see them as enemies because they drove the same mandate.

He said lawyers were speaking on behalf of the voiceless.

He briefed the LSB members that the introduction of the JCM in the high courts brought about significant changes in the day-to -day operations of the courts and to those who participated in court process.

He explained that the JCM had been a success in the sense that it had reduced backlog and brought about certainty as to when a litigant would have his/her day in court.

“There are constraints as chronicled above, but such constraints are not insurmountable. With goodwill on the part of all stakeholders, JCM is the only way to go. Let us embrace it and ensure that it is adapted to suite our own situation,” he added.

He appreciated that although the implementation of the JCM in magistrates courts had not been successful as had been in high courts, the main contributing factor to this limited success was the absence of the necessary driving structures, the most critical being mini- registries.

The JCM committee was established in 2007 to oversee the implementation of JCM in the high courts initially and its mandate was extended to implementation of JCM in magistrates courts when it became necessary in 2011.

The committee is a cross-section of some key stakeholders in the legal and judicial system comprising of judges, registrars, magistrates, representatives of the attorney general, the Directorate of Public Prosecution and the LSB.

Justice Tafa said just as the introduction of any new system usually entailed major changes in the establishment patterns and roles of the key players, impacting on the assignment of responsibilities and accountability, the introduction of the JCM necessitated some drastic changes in the rules of the court, the culture of work and ethic in the judiciary and its stakeholders as well as in the litigation process.

He revealed that for the successful adoption and implementation of JCM in the high courts, certain foundational conditions had to be met, among which was the need for a committee to steer the whole process.

He shared that the committee had successfully implemented JCM in the high courts as shown by the noticeable increase in the disposal rates and reduction in the backlog of cases.

The JCM, he said, was introduced in the high courts in February 2008 finding Lobatse High Court having a work load of 7 256 civil cases, almost all of which were backlog as there were no set time lines within which a case was to be completed and the pace of litigation was controlled by the litigants.

A total of 249 cases were registered, bringing the total workload for February to 7 505.

Within three months, Justice Tafa said, the backlog was reduced and the number of completed cases increased while more cases were registered.

In addition, he noted that a total of 3 187 civil cases were disposed, while 944 were registered in that period.

He said the high courts were still struggling with criminal cases, adding that shortage of prosecutors and court reporters had brought the wheels of justice in criminal cases to a near halt.

Shortage of court reporters, he said, had resulted in the non-availability of records of proceedings for appeals and bail applications before the high courts.

Public prosecutors and defence counsels, he said, were also not showing up for hearings as they should. ENDS