Delayed conclusion of cases and alleged corruption dominate complaints lodged with Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC) in its judicial accountability probe, it has emerged.
MHRC director of civil and political rights Peter Chisi, speaking in an interview yesterday, said the commission has received 28 submissions between October 30 and November 30 this year when the window closed.
He said: “Most of the submissions are on delayed hearing of cases as well as delayed judgements. A few are complaints about unfair judgements by some courts.”
Judiciary is under spotlight
Chisi further said that the next step for the commission is to analyse the cases individually and then draw an action plan in line with the broader plan of public inquiry.
Through the public inquiry, MHRC seeks to assess judicial accountability, integrity and competency as well as whether there is need for any change in the laws, policies and practices in addressing issues related to access to justice.
The commission is expected to produce a comprehensive report with in-depth analysis and recommendations to enhance judicial accountability and access to justice by early next year.
The MHRC probe came on the back of allegations made on social media by lawyer Alexious Kamangila about corruption involving judges, lawyers and the Judiciary in general.
In an interview yesterday, he said the inquiry is critical to access to justice in Malawi, but noted that the nature of the complaints received reflected the stand MHRC took that it would not investigate allegations of corruption in the Judiciary.
“The lack of many complaints could be a result of institutionalised corruption which undermines people’s trust to the entire process for accountability, such that coming out is looked at as a great risk, not worthy the consequences,” he said.
Political and governance analyst Wonderful Mkhutche said the commission needs a thorough conversation with the Judiciary on how the issue of delayed cases can be handled.
“For years, this challenge has not been adequately attended to, and this is the opportunity to do that,” said Mkhutche.
High Court of Malawi and Supreme Court of Appeal registrar Innocent Nebi told The Nation last month that the Judiciary remained open to a robust and open interaction regarding its mandate and operations.
Under sections 129 and 130 of the Constitution, MHRC is mandated to investigate any allegation of a violation of any right enshrined in the Constitution on its own motion or upon complaints received from any person, class of persons or body.
Meanwhile, the Judicial Service Commission is also conducting its own probe focusing on three cases presided over by High Court of Malawi Commercial Division Judge Kenan Manda and one child custody case involving Child Justice Court magistrate Diana Mangwana.
