The Judiciary says the new premises for the High Court Commercial Division in Blantyre will improve administration of justice as there will no longer be space challenges.
The Judiciary is set to officially open its new four-storey premises along Independence Drive in Blantyre Wednesday. President Lazarus Chakwera will preside over the event.
High Court of Malawi assistant registrar responsible for Commercial Division Emelia Mvula Zidule said in an interview the premises are easily accessible to stakeholders, court users and the public.
She said: “Judges have their own courtrooms and mediation rooms which will expedite the hearing and disposal of cases as they will be able to conduct court business without interfering with or inconveniencing one another.”
Mvula Zidule added that if three judges, for instance, schedule matters at 9am they will be able to proceed without disruptions.
She said six judges can hear matters at the same time because they do not share court rooms nor mediation rooms.
Hearing of at least 1 200 commercial cases stalled for almost eight months due to lack of space after the Commercial Court moved out of Mpico House, formerly MDC House, along Glyn Jones Road in Blantyre to Judiciary Headquarters at Chichiri.
In October last year, High Court of Malawi and Supreme Court of Appeal chief registrar Innocent Nebi told The Nation that the court stopped operating from Mpico House in July 2024 after the landlord issued a notice about renovating the building.
Mvula Zidule said the new premises are a great achievement for the Judiciary after the division moved out from rented premises.
She said the building, whose construction started in 2010 and has taken up about K4 billion, has enough space for all personnel and also houses the High Court Revenue Division which has moved from Chichiri Court Complex.
Speaking in January when Vice-President Michael Usi met the Judiciary, contractor of the building and subcontractors to resolve payment issues delaying the completion of the building, Judge in-Charge Chifundo Kachale said there was a lot of work that had been affected by the failure to access court premises.
