Primary justice reducing case backlog in Malawi

The Malawi Primary Justice Programme (MPJP) has said it is important to educate traditional leaders on primary justice because it is helping reduce the criminal cases being reported to police and court.

MPJP Southern Region coordinator Dalitso Mipando said this on Friday during a training of traditional leaders in primary justice in Lunzu, Blantyre.

Mipando said the programme has reached 236 traditional authorities (T/As) in Malawi, including T/As Kapeni, Lundu, Kunthembwe, Chigalu, Kuntaja and Somba in Blantyre.

“With the programme, the linkage between formal and informal justice sectors has improved and traditional leaders are also able to give judgement with the basic knowledge of the law,” said Mipando.

Supervisor of primary justice in Lunzu, Lucy Chitsa, said the training empowered traditional leaders on how to approach cases and give fair judgment.

She said more awareness of the primary justice was important because cases were easily solved in village tribunals than in formal courts.