Thu, 22 Feb 2018 10:22:29 +0000
By LINDA SOKO TEMBO
GOVERNMENT should consider stationing resident judges in all 10 provinces of Zambia to reduce backlog of cases, the Prisons Care and counselling Association (PRISCCA) has said.
PRISCCA executive director Godfrey Malembeka said the association had been lobbying government to decentralise the position of judges in the country.
Dr Malembeka said out of 10 provinces, only four had resident judges namely, Lusaka Copperbelt, Central and Southern provinces.
He said having only four out of 10 provinces with resident judges was not effective because it was contributing to the backlog of cases.
He said it was also a cost to government who funded the circuit trips to enable them attend to cases in other places when money was made available.
“Judges are only sent in the 6 provinces when government has enough resources if they do not have enough resources, they do not go. Looking at the current system it is very expensive to send the judges with their entourage.
“Why can’t government allow that the judges to stay in the different provinces like other civil servants and use the money they are using for court circuiting to develop the very infrastructure that is required for them to operate,” Dr Malembeka said.
In an interview with the Daily Nation, Dr Malembeka explained that when judges were on circuit to different provinces, they did not only deal with adult criminal matters they also dealt with juvenile matters.
He said only judges were allowed to confirm reformatory orders when it came to juvenile cases adding that the whole process was delayed because judges were not in all the 10 provinces all-time.
“We have juveniles who are delayed, waiting for judges to go and confirm reformatory orders. Those orders have to be done in different parts of the country.
“We don’t want that we want our children to be controlled almost immediately and be send to the free reformatory schools,” he said.
Dr Malembeka also said that there was need for the Supreme Court sittings that were only been conducted in three provinces in the country, Copperbelt Central and Lusaka provinces to be extended cover even five provinces.
He said this was important because it would help reduce the congested prisons and avoid transporting inmates especially those that were ordered to appear in the Supreme Court
Dr Malembeka explained that having judges in all the provinces of the country would encourage lawyers to set up private law firms in these areas so that they could supplement the legal aid board efforts.
