Chief Justice warns judiciary staff against bribery

Tue, 13 Jun 2017 14:04:30 +0000

By VIOLET TEMBO

THE Judiciary will take legal action against clerks of court using information acquired in the course of duty as means of obtaining bribes, Chief Justice Ireen Mambilima has warned.

Justice Mambilima said misappropriation of public funds was a criminal offence that was visited with serious sanctions.

Speaking in Ndola yesterday when she officially opened training workshop for clerks of court, Justice Mambilima advised clerks to attain  the highest level of confidentiality in management of court records.

Justice Mambilima charged that some staff members had let the judiciary down with their conduct.

She said the works of some of the Judiciary staff had been characterized by laziness and practices such as corruption, misappropriation of funds and dishonesty.

She urged clerks of the Court to desist from engaging in illegal activities, as they were the interface between the court and the litigating public. “You are the first point of contact for those that come through the courts registry to file court documents, pay fees or seek information. Therefore, your conduct must be above board.

Be reminded that litigants that come through the local courts have no representatives by counsel. In this vein, be prompt  to render the necessary guidance required by the public,” she said.

Justice Mambilima further implored the court officers to ensure that the audited documents were accurate and conformed to proper accounting procedure.

She added that the money collected as fees and fines should be accounted for in accordance with financial regulations.

She indicated that the training has been devoted to financial regulations and government accounting procedures emphasizing that revenue accounting issues were critical to court clerks. Justice Mambilima also expressed concern over audited reports on revenue collection from the local courts, describing it as gloomy. She disclosed that reports revealed a number of glaring omissions and errors and that books of accounts were not properly maintained. She pointed out that such occurrences led to loss of government revenue.

And speaking earlier, Chairperson of the committee on training Justice Elizabeth Muyovwe said the committee had so far trained clerks in Central and Lusaka provinces. Justice Muyovwe stated that after the training was concluded, it was expected that change would be seen in the manner local courts operate in the country to clear queries from the auditor general’s office and general public.  161 court clerks country wide are being targeted for training.