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MINISTER PARTLY BLAMES LAWYERS FOR CASES DELAY

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MBABANE – Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs Sibusiso Shongwe has partly shifted the blame to lawyers for delays on the finalisation of court matters.
He was responding to a question posed by Senator Prince Fipha on what caused the delay in resolving or trying cases in the country.


Shongwe said the delay in the finalisation of matters was caused by attorneys who continuously postpone matters.
He further said the shortage of personnel as well as magistrates and judges also contributed to the delay.


Shongwe, through a report which was tabled in Senate by his ministry’s portfolio committee Chairperson Edgar Hillary, said more arrests were effected almost on a daily basis compared to the cases which were finalised during the same time frame.


“Hearing of cases is stringent and evidence led in court must prove a case beyond a reasonable doubt in criminal cases in Swaziland,” said Shongwe.
He stated that further rules of procedure had to be followed as provided in the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act of 1938.


Shongwe said, however, the problem of delays in courts, especially the High Court,  had been dealt with, where recently, three acting judges were appointed to deal with 800 cases.
“This exercise proved to be effective in that the acting judges delivered and were able to deal with all the cases assigned to them,” said Shongwe.


Meanwhile, in respect to the welfare of magistrates, in particular a review of their salaries, the minister said there was an ongoing exercise where a committee comprising of the Judiciary and officials from the Ministry of Finance were meeting on a regular basis.
He said they hoped that by the next financial year, the committee tasked with the issue would have been able to finalise the terms. He said it was further resolved that the matter be dealt with by the consultancy engaged by government to review salaries of civil servants, which it was understood would commence soon.    


On another note, the minister reported that all was well between the ministry and the Law Society of Swaziland.
Shongwe said it was normal that sometimes there would be differences in opinion, hence people would misinterpret the relations otherwise. The minister provided a similar answer when asked by the senator on how much cooperation there was among officials in the Ministry of Justice.


“In each and every organisation there are differences of opinion and that does not mean that there is no cooperation in that organisation,” Shongwe answered.      

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