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Patrick Chitumba, Midlands Bureau Chief
A HIGH Court judge has blasted greedy lawyers who delay court processes in order to get more money from their clients.
Officially opening the legal year for the Gweru High Court Circuit on Monday, Bulawayo High Court Judge, Justice Mathonsi, said some legal practitioners still harbour wrong intentions as they consistently come to court to seek postponement of matters on flimsy grounds.
The judge, however, said such lawyers were few.
“Regarding legal practitioners, although the majority of them have done a sterling job in the preparation of papers in readiness for court and they must be commended for that, there are still a few who still harbour wrong intentions, those who believe that they must consistently come to court to seek a postponement of matters on flimsy grounds,” he said.
“Quite often this group of GUS (Giving unsatisfactory service) think that matters are set down to be postponed. They are usually motivated by a desire to buy time on behalf of those that they represent either because they have a bad case and want to shelter under the wings of the court or they would like to use the court themselves to extract a fee from a client.”
Justice Mathonsi said the courts were there to dispense justice and not to perform the function of protection zones for lazy lawyers.
He said there were also a few challenges relating to delays caused by the Sheriff’s office which he said was not submitting returns of service timeously.
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