12 Mar 2019

Selibe Phikwe West MP, Mr Dithapelo Keorapetse has called for the review of the composition of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC).

Contributing to the debate on the Ministry of Defence, Justice and Security budget proposals, Mr Keorapetse decried the disparity in the composition of members of the JSC, saying the commission was mostly comprised of handpicked individuals who degraded the commission’s integrity.

He said it was important for the JSC to achieve greater integrity and independence of the country’s judiciary and enhance public confidence on the system.

MP Keorapetse said the reform process should consider the nomenclature of the commission, as it could not be proper that five of the six members of the JSC were presidential appointees.

Presidential appointees, he said, comprised of the Judge President, Chief Justice, Attorney General, chairperson of Public Services Commission and only one member of the law society.

He called for a comprehensive review of the JSC composition in order to cater for more independent advocates and law scholars from high institutions of learning and relevant parliamentary committee.

He noted that the country’s constitution entrusted the head of state with powers to appoint both the Chief Justice and the Judge President.

Mr Keorapetse said it was, therefore, imperative that he appointed individuals of such calibre in accordance with the recommendation of the JSC.

He also highlighted the need to advertise Court of Appeal vacant posts, and called for the localisation of the Court Appeal bench, saying the country’s education system had produced credible locals to serve in the Court of Appeal bench.

“The judiciary should be more independent and conduct public interviews of candidates, as it has over the years lost integrity due to the incompetence of some judges and backlog of cases which could be attributed to the secrecy behind appointment of judges,” he said.

He stated that government should also consider establishing special courts which would be used as instruments in solving problems in the justice system, adding that the court specialisation process would if used properly, make an important contribution to the success of the justice reform projects.

Furthermore, Gaborone Bonnington North MP, Advocate Duma Boko also called for a comprehensive review of the country’s functions and operations of the judicial system.

He said it was disappointing to note that the last judicial review was the Aguda Commission which was conducted over a decade ago.

He highlighted the importance to examine the skills and temperament of those appointed at magistrate levels.

Advocate Boko also argued that the High Court system should be reviewed so that it catered for the creation of specialised divisions of the court, adding that such courts would have a criminal division and public law division which would all be configured to assist and create efficiency in the administration of justice. He also emphasised the need to localise the Court of Appeal bench, saying young citizens who had the integrity and competence to serve in the bench were available.

“The jurisprudence of a nation must be informed by the peculiar circumstances and experience of the people of that particular jurisdiction, therefore the country’s jurisprudence should be informed by the local culture and political ethos,” he said.

Shashe West legislator, Mr Fidelis Molao decried the escalating cases of offenders who committed crimes while still out on bail.

Mr Molao called for stringent measures on bail violators, adding that a wide range of serious criminals had committed new offences after being released on bail. Ends