05 Jul 2018

Having realised the exceptional performance of the small claims court, time is now for the Administration of Justice (AOJ) to roll them out to other areas such as Kanye, Palapye, and Maun.

The observation was made by Chief Justice Terrence Rannowane at the two-day Legal Division Retreat in Palapye noting “it is only natural that the service is extended to the greater number of the population since the small claims court has been in operation in Francistown and Extension 11 for over a decade.”

Turning to service delivery and staff welfare he said it was obvious that in the course of achieving service delivery, this was made possible by the input of staff. He thus emphasised that their welfare and service delivery shall remain a critical focus of his administration, saying the two were a derivative of the other. 

“Unless the AOJ can respond to the welfare issues of its employees, it is highly unlikely that the officers will feel motivated to give their best for the organisation. In fact, seldom would officers embrace or propagate the vision or values of an organization that does not have their welfare at heart,” Justice Rannowane said.

He said his administration was aware of the many years often taken before there were any promotions or progression to higher grades. He said of recent some posts were upgraded to D2 and D1 noting that it was a good step ahead.

He reminded the officers that AOJ was the arbiter of disputes, as such it was paramount that the integrity of the judicial process and the officers involved were not unnecessarily made the subject of negative perception.

He said their clients should be able to accept the judgments of the court without question, calling for transparency of not just their processes, but also of the motives of the officers involved.

 Justice Rannowane went on to say that AOJ could not immune itself from public scrutiny, and its greatest defence would be for it to make sure that everything it did was above reproach.

The retreat was held under the theme: Igniting team spirit- it starts with me, which he said was appropriate as it captured the sense of what the retreat had to deliver. 

 He said often leadership of the organisations made decisions with the expectation that the employees were the ones to deliver. He, however, said in this instance, AOJ staff had been given an opportunity to craft a dream for the section under which they served.

 “That requires you to critically look at the way you do things and assess whether it is the best way to do them and also look into your input and say whether it is the best you can offer the AOJ. 

But over and above these, it is time for your dreams to take flight,” he said.

Justice Rannowane touched on challenges, success, and achievements noting that very soon he would embark facilitating the Judicial Case Management (JCM) which was introduced in 2008 and 2010 in the high court and magistrate court was left behind due to resource constraints.

He also noted facilitation of e-filing in regard to the Court Records Management  which was introduced in 2005 with the intention to modernise the processes and improve efficiency and service delivery.

Justice Rannowane said the shortage of court reporters had contributed to delayed transcription of court proceedings, which had earned them unflattering comments in the public space and even from stakeholders. 

He said real-time reporting, as well as the provision of two reporters per each judicial officer, would go a long way towards addressing this challenge. ENDS