Corruption corrodes judiciary

relate to the lower levels of the judiciary,” he said.
The Chief Justice proposed improvement of the working conditions for judicial officers and support staff as one of the ways of reducing corruption.
“Put differently, the Judicial Service Commission believes that corruption can be rooted out by a policy of ‘carrot and stick’.

“Wielding the stick alone without the carrot is unlikely to achieve the desired result.”
The Chief Justice suggested the imposition of severe penalties for those found guilty of corruption as another measure to stem the rot.

Justice and Legal Affairs Minister Patrick Chinamasa said corruption was rife in the judiciary and JSC should work towards curbing it.
“It cannot be denied that corruption is a cancerous cell eating away the fabric of our justice delivery system. The JSC must initiate strategies to fight it, to eliminate it.

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“There should be zero tolerance to corruption. I always put it this way: While I can live with the outcome of a court judgment that is bad in law and with a factual basis which has been erroneously arrived at due to incompetence of a judicial officer, I cannot live with an outcome of judgment that has been bought,” said Minister Chinamasa.

He said he had received reports and complaints from the public accusing the judiciary and other court officials of corruption.
“I receive complaints almost daily from members of the public about the shortcomings of our justice delivery system.
“I routinely pass these (complaints) to the Acting Secretary of JSC Mrs Rita Makarau.

“Members of the public complain about inordinate delays in finalising court matters. They complain of delays in handing down judgments. Allegations have been made that some judgments have taken up to six years to hand down.
“I have received complaints galore about court records that develop legs and surreptitiously walk away,” said Minister Chinamasa.

He said there were reports of important documents that were plucked away from court records.
“More seriously, members of the public allege rampant corruption in the courts involving all key players in the justice delivery system. (They include) judicial officers and support staff, clerks, interpreters and the lot of police investigating officers, prosecutors, lawyers in the private sector not to mention touts who impersonate lawyers, prison officers whether in civil and criminal matters,” said the minister.

The code of ethics, according to the minister, is set to address corruption and other concerns.
“The judicial code of ethics half addresses my concerns.
“I say ‘half addresses’ because this is just a small albeit significant step towards eliminating corruption or the perception of corruption in the justice system,” said Minister Chinamasa.
He urged the commission to methodically and systematically implement the strategic plan and the code of ethics for the betterment of the justice delivery system.

 

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