03 Feb 2014

The month of February has two major important events in the calendar of the year in Botswana.

One is the budget speech and the other is the official commencement of the Legal Year. While the Minister of Finance and Development Planning, Mr Kenneth Matambo will be presenting the 2014/2015 budget speech to Parliament today, the Chief Justice Maruping Dibotelo will tomorrow officiate at the commencement of the legal year.

President Lt Gen. Seretse Khama Ian Khama will once again grace this year’s official opening which will be held at the Gaborone High Court and Court of Appeal premises and will bring together judicial officers; judges and magistrates, members of the Law Society of Botswana, senior government officials, Members of Parliament and members of the Diplomatic missions.

BOPA went down memory lane to look into some of the issues the Chief Justice addressed at the same event last year. One of the main issues that Justice Dibotelo is expected to address is the progress in the collection of unclaimed maintenance monies that stood at P11 million last year and the issue of family break-ups, which were a cause for concern in his 2013 address.

Some divorce cases were of relatively new marriages and that shows that marriage vows seem not to carry any value and the sanctity that was once associated with the institution. The failure to collect maintenance money worried the Chief Justice because it was to the detriment of the intended beneficiaries as it led to deprivation.

However, he was of the view that the concerted efforts by all concerned given the already existing government structures such a Government Accounting and Budgeting System (GABS) could assist in the prevention of this vice.

Past efforts by the Administration of Justice (AoJ) to get beneficiaries to collect unclaimed maintenance money has not produced any positives.

These efforts include advertising in the newspapers, and the posting of beneficiaries’ names on notice boards across the country.

One of the renowned lawyers, Mr Uyapo Ndadi said he expects the Chief Justice to reflect on the issue of corruption at the bench.

He also said the Chief Justice should in his address speak of delays in the delivery of judgements.

“We expect him to tell us what is being done to deal with such kind of judges.

Mr Ndadi was however happy that although moving at a slow pace, there is growing respect between members of the bench because in the past there were some members of the bar who perceived some of their colleagues as ‘boys and girls who make noise’.

The Chief Justice is also expected to update Batswana on the legal aid. Government has decided to establish a permanent independent public entity to be known as Legal Aid Botswana to provide state funded legal aid to the indigent.

This is expected to be achieved in the course of the 2013/14 financial year, following the enactment of the Legal Aid Act and the Legal Practitioners (Amendment) Act. During the pilot project, Legal Aid Botswana established offices in Gaborone and Francistown and is in the process of establishing another one in Maun.

The Chief Justice is also expected to respond to some of the issues raised by the chairperson of the Law Society of Botswana (LSB) Mr Lawrence Lecha with regards to accused persons who are represented by ill-equipped pro deo lawyers.   Mr Lecha had also complained that there was antagonism between the bench and the bar and that the dress code of young lawyers was unacceptable. Mr Lecha could not be reached for comment with regards to his expectation towards the Chief Justice’s address during this year’s legal year.

Justice Dibotelo is also expected to make an update on several reforms that the AoJ introduced in the recent past. The implementation of Court Annexed Mediation (CAM), which is an alternate dispute resolution (ADR) to dispose cases expeditiously, following a successful benchmarking study on ADR in the United States of America in 2012.

Other reforms are the Judicial Case Management System (JCM) which has recorded a number of successes since its inception at the High Court and magistrate courts in 2008 and 2011 respectively as well as the introduction of a Stock Theft Court because stock theft  constitutes a brazen attack and an affront to the society and must be confronted head on.

Other speakers at the ceremony will include Attorney General, Dr Athalia Molokomme and Mr Lecha.  This year’s theme is Integrity in Judicial Service Delivery - Working Together - Justice for All”. Currently there are 23 High Court judges in Botswana.
Four of them are women and 19 are male.

The first woman High Court Judge was Justice Unity Dow, who has since quit the bench for private practice. Justices Phadu Solomon, Leatile Dambe, Mercy Garekwe and Tebogo Tau constitute females currently serving the bench. Justice Dibotelo is the third Motswana chief justice after former Chief Justice, Julian Nganunu (1997-2010) and the late Chief Justice Moleleki Mokama, who was the first Motswana chief justice having served from 1992-1997.

Justice Mokama succeeded the first Chief Justice, Judge Livesy Luke (1990-1992). ENDS