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Lawyers` words notable, now starts the real battle
2007-10-05 09:11:01
By Editor
Joaquine De Mello, President of the Bar Association of Tanzania, on Monday told a conference for East African magistrates and judges that African leaders were notorious for using phone calls to dictate the handling of court cases.
Her remarks in Dar es Salaam will be remembered for their bluntness and the boldness with which she made them – although the nature of the reaction it will have invited is hard to tell.
Considering the senior position she occupies in the country`s legal system, the BAT chief must have weighed her words very carefully before associating the leaders with flagrant interference with the supposedly sacrosanct concept of the independence of the judiciary.
This is because, if indeed what she saw as the telephone-perfected manipulation of the judiciary has become part of the legal framework of African countries, there is not much saving the continent from a catastrophe with little record.
The legal gurus who addressed the conference rightly described the concept of rule of law as the cornerstone of democracy and good governance that was possible only with a fair and efficient independent judiciary accountable to and supported by the citizenry in place.
We find no cause not to concur with these experts on the inviolability of judicial independence and the need for all people to observe, practise, safeguard and promote it for the sake of true justice for all.
That is why we think the experts` assertion that cases abound in Africa of the flagrant abuse of the rule of law calls for immediate corrective action, if it has to come to that.
It is incumbent upon those associated with the perpetration of the so-called telephone justice to absolve themselves or reform. After all, to err is human.
However, a second side to the story is that lawyers should shoot at perceived culprits while also getting rid of undesirable elements that could earn their fraternity a bad name.
As one of their own noted, judicial independence demands that magistrates and judges be sincere and truthful to the oath they take upon their appointment and administer justice without fear, favour, affection or ill-will.
Yes, it is impossible to develop a rule of law culture in the absence of a fair and efficient independent judiciary.
But what should one make of the widespread belief that many cases are no longer decided in and by courts of law?
Yes, judicial independence is not a judges’ exclusive privilege but rather a matter of life and death that hinges on the people`s constitutional right to equality before the law.
But what should people do when it becomes all so apparent that some of the very people charged with ensuring that such is the case do the most they can to ensure that the contrary applies?
Whether serving as advisors, advocates, negotiators, intermediaries, evaluators, or in some other capacity, lawyers are always expected to be competent, prompt and diligent and to conduct themselves honourably.
How our own lawyers rate in this respect is crucial and decisive.
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