Provide adequate court infrastructure, Govt told

Wed, 07 Feb 2018 09:29:21 +0000

By JACKSON MAPAPAYI 

KITWE High Court Judge, Justice Timothy Katenekwa, has appealed to government to provide the necessary funding for the court infrastructure in North western province.

He said the Judiciary depend on funding from the treasury to carry out its constitutional mandate by providing it with adequate funding for court operations and infrastructure.

He also bemoaned inadequate magistrates at Solwezi magistrates Court saying there were only five magistrates against two court rooms.

‘’And to make matters worse, one of these two court rooms is the one the High Court uses when it sits at Solwezi which is five months for the criminal court, three months for the high court industrial division and two months for the High Court Civil general division.

‘’Making a total of ten months this court is not available to subordinate court,’’ he said.

He was speaking during the official opening of the High Court Criminal sessions for North western province yesterday.

He said apart from infrastructure challenges, the court was also faced with transport challenges.

He said for the Judiciary to operate effectively in the dispensation of justice, there is need for other stakeholders in criminal justice system to be properly resourced.

He mentioned the National Prosecution Authority, the Legal Aid Board, the Zambia Police, the Prisons Service and the Social welfare Department among others.

And gracing the event, North western province Minister Richard Kapita, in a speech read for him by Deputy Permanent Secretary Douglas Ngimbi, said the PF government was committed to ensuring that the judiciary was adequately funded for it to be able to conduct its functions.

‘’As government, we are firmly committed to the rule of law, and to this end I would like to urge the courts to deal with matters fairly and according to the law,’’ he said.