Download PDF - The Judiciary

State of Judiciary 2011-2012
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there were 42 Judges of the High Court and 11 Judges of Appeal.
The numbers in the magistracy stood at 330.
Besides court work, judicial officers were routinely saddled
with administrative work that ran the gamut of functions from
procurement to supervising construction. Judges and Magistrates
were over-stretched by the number of cases before them, and
many had stagnated in their careers for years. On the downside,
some judicial officers reported to work late, sat for very short
periods and casually adjourned cases because of a tenuous
accountability culture. Deadlines for writing judgments were
observed more in the breach than in practice
Transfers were sudden, disruptive and punitive, often requiring
judicial officers to leave their work stations without adequate
notice to complete pending work.
Inappropriate case and information management, and forbidding
rules of procedure erected further barriers in the pathway of those
who sought justice.
One of the challenges confronting the Judiciary in the past year
has been agreeing on an operative definition of backlog. It is a
continuing conversation that will bring clarity to how cases in the
Judiciary are classified and dealt with.
Administrative and judicial processes have been initiated over the
past year to conclude cases that have been in the system for years.
An initial analysis of the case backlog found that two thirds of it
consisted of traffic-related matters whose prosecution the police
had abandoned. Four Chief Magistrates were posted to conclude
these cases by closing files, asking the police to withdraw them
for want of prosecution or sending them to trial.
In response to the shortage of judicial staff, the Judicial Service
Commission embarked on an aggressive recruitment programme.
In the past year, the Judiciary has recruited 109 new Magistrates
and promoted another 278 as well as 12 Kadhis who were already
in service. Further, it has hired 36 judges of the High Court, 12 Judges
of the Industrial Court and 15 Judges of the Land and Environment
Court. These 64 new Judges brought the strength of the High Court
to 112. Seven High Court Judges were promoted to the Court of
Appeal. An amendment to the Judicature Act has raised the