Finally, ministry moves on Judiciary Bills
Ministry of Justice has stepped up efforts to work on three much-awaited Judiciary Bills ahead of their presentation in Parliament, a move that has excited other stakeholders, including the Malawi Law Society (MLS).
This follows a high-level tripartite meeting the ministry convened at Capital Hill in Lilongwe last Friday to discuss the draft bills with key stakeholders, namely the Judiciary and Malawi Law Society.
Ministry of Justice spokesperson Frank Namangale and MLS president Patrick Mpaka confirmed the engagement offered a way forward with a mutual understanding that there is still work to firm up on the bills before tabling them.
The draft bills are the Judicial Service Administration Bill, Constitution (Amendment) Bill and the Courts (Amendment) Bill.
The ministry was represented by Minister of Justice Titus Mvalo, Attorney General (AG) Thabo Chakaka Nyirenda and Solicitor General (SG) and Secretary for Justice Allison Mbang’ombe.
On the other hand, the Judiciary team had Justices of Appeal John Katsala and Sylvester Kalembera, High Court Judges Kenyatta Nyirenda and Yakuwawa Msiska and High Court and the Supreme Court of Appeal registrar Kondwani Banda.
Mpaka led a four-member delegation comprising MLS vice-president Tusume Mwabungulu, chief executive officer Chrispin Ngunde and Janet Chiingeni, a member of the MLS-Judicial Service Commission Bill (MLS-JSC) Advisory Team.
The meeting reviewed the three Bills clause by clause, and made recommendations, some of which were adopted while others were rejected, and the ministry gave its justification for the proposed clauses.
Said Namangale: “The tripartite meeting was a big step ahead. The good thing is all parties have agreed there is still more work to be done, but targeting the August 2024 meeting of Parliament to table the draft Bills. This mutual understanding is crucial in discussions of such nature.”
According to a special report on the engagement issued by the MLS president, the Judiciary and the society gave their respective perspectives of each issue resulting in either a consensus or compromise or disagreement on each key clause.
Mpaka said while certain issues still need to be improved with a good measure of apparent consensus on the need for these reforms reached at the meeting, the work is at a critical juncture.
“We must each put in our best efforts to generate a final product that speaks to the true aspirations of the people of Malawi in so far as the administration of justice is concerned,” reads the report dated July 6 2024.
Since May 6 2024, MLS had been organising a series of advocacy strategy meetings with its membership, selected civil society organisations (CSOs) and the general public to obtain views on what strategy to develop in terms of pushing for the passing of the two draft Bills.
In February this year, the Catholic Bishops of the Episcopal Conference of Malawi (ECM) issued a Pastoral Letter in which they faulted the ministry of frustrating MLS efforts to put in place a law that regulates the judges.
The society has been pursuing efforts to contribute to reforms in the operations of the Judicial Service Commission to enhance judicial accountability and independence with a view to promoting transparency and efficiency in the administration of justice.
