Chief Justice petition on more judges

Malawi Law Society has petitioned the Chief Justice Andrew Nyirenda as chairperson of the Judicial Service Commission to appoint more judges and registrars following the changes in the Courts Act which created five divisions of the High Court.

Section 6A of the Courts Act created Civil, Commercial, Criminal, Family and Probate and Revenue courts and judges have been allocated to some of the divisions in Blantyre and Lilongwe, according to the petition.

The petition dated February 8, 2017, signed by the MLS president Khumbo Soko and copied to the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs Samuel Tembenu also notes statistics in their possession shows that there are 26 judges against the requirement of 46 and five registrars against the required 10.

Soko said as a result there are thousands of cases ready for trial but not enough judges to handle them.

Until recently, Mzuzu High Court had one judge before the transfer of new judge Thom Ligowe late last year.

President Peter Mutharika last appointed two judges in July last year which brought the number to 26.