The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has justified delays to conclude its probe into alleged professional misconduct of judicial officers, saying it is scrutinising many files.
In an interview on Tuesday, JSC secretary Irene Chikapa said the commission received files of evidence from complainants and case files from courts which are still being studied.
She said: “The commissioners do not work full time as they have other duties elsewhere.
“It has been difficult to meet deadlines because of the amount of work and considering that the commissioners need to have adequate time to conduct the probe properly.”
Chikapa said the commission is set to meet next week to continue reviewing the evidence.
When the probe was announced in October last year, the commission said it would allocate four weeks to investigate cases involving High Court of Malawi Commercial Division Judge Kenan Manda and child justice magistrate Diana Mangwana.
But Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation executive director Michael Kaiyatsa expressed disappointment with the development.
“Instead of using these challenges as an excuse, the JSC should push for changes, such as having full-time staff, more funding or better systems to speed up their work,” he said.
