Govt Tightens Screws On Magistrates

In a move that is supposed to help authorities curb corruption, the govt has instructed Magistrates to deliver reserved judgments within 30 days, failure of which the judicial officer should report to the head of the court.

These new regulations were published in the JSC with the concurrence of the Justice Minister and were part of the Statutory Instrument published last Friday. The regulations read in part:

Where a judgment is reserved to be delivered on notice, the judicial officer shall use his or her best efforts to ensure that such judgment is delivered within the next 30 days and except in unusual and exceptional circumstances, no judgment shall be delivered later than 60 days from the date when it is reserved.

Where a judicial officer reserves judgment in any case and the judicial officer has reason to believe he or she will not be able to render judgment within the 30-day period referred to in subsection (1) he or she shall inform his or her head of court of that fact

The govt has however over the years failed to shake off the tag that the judiciary is captured by the ruling party.

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