Judiciary staff see gaps in draft Bill
Pressure continues to pile on Ministry of Justice to swiftly finalise processing of the Judicial Service and Administration Bill 2023 and the Constitutional (Amendment) Bill 2023 for tabling in Parliament before the current meeting adjourns.
Two days after the Malawi Law Society (MLS) protested the ministry’s delays to process the two Bills, the Malawi Judiciary Members of Staff Union (Jumsu) has added its voice of disapproval.
But the union said much as it would have loved to see the Bills tabled speedily in the House, the current form of the draft legislations has grey areas that need to be addressed by the ministry.
Jumsu public relations officer Andy Haliwa said in an interview yesterday that judicial members of staff are uncomfortable with certain sections which have been maintained despite proposing their amendments.
Primarily, the judicial staff is against the composition of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) as sketched in the Constitutional (Amendment) Bill 2023 as well as the approving authority of the terms and conditions of service.
The staff observed there is discrepancy on the determination of their terms and conditions of service as well as other workers employed in the judicial service.
The bone of contention is that terms and conditions of service of judicial officers are determined by Parliament while those of other judicial workers are decided upon by JSC after consulting with the Minister of Finance and the Department of Human Resources Management and Development.
“Judiciary is one institution and one separate arm of government. Why should we then have two approving authorities for the terms and conditions of service? We want that section to be amended so that there is one approving authority which should either be Parliament or the Commission,” explained Haliwa.
The judicial staff is also demanding the review of JSC composition so that it incorporates a retired person with a background in human resources management and administration in the public service.
Last week, the MLS protested the snails’ pace the Ministry of Justice is taking on the Bills after it indicated last November that the two Bills would be taken to Parliament during this sitting.
Prior to tabling the Bills, the ministry, which had given the society a January 5 2024 deadline to conclude consultations, was supposed to meet the Judiciary and conduct a national consultative meeting which is yet to take place.
In light of the developments, MLS resolved to wait for feedback from the ministry of Justice before taking further steps on the matter.
According to the letter Secretary to Justice and Solicitor General Alison M’bang’ombe wrote to key stakeholders including MLS and Judiciary, the consultation meetings on the Bills were supposed to be completed by the second week of January 2024.
Thereafter, the ministry was supposed to finalise the Bills for Cabinet process by January 31 2024. As it stands, it is not clear when this will happen.
In an interview yesterday on Jumsu’s concerns and progress of the process, Ministry of Justice spokesperson Frank Namangale said they were waiting for Judiciary submission after their meeting “which will take place soon”.
The Judicial Service Administration Bill, among others, has provisions that would promote transparency and accountability in the appointment, execution of duties, transfer, discipline and removal of judicial officers and funding of JSC without interfering with the constitutionally entrenched independence of the Judiciary.
