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Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter
LEGAL practitioners should adhere to best professional standards to enhance access to affordable justice and the rule of law, Chief Justice Luke Malaba has said.
Addressing lawyers and jurists at the 20th Sadc Lawyers’ Association (Sadc-LA) annual conference and general meeting which ended here yesterday, CJ Malaba said the independence of the judiciary and the legal profession is key.
“I’m a legal practitioner and I adhere to standards. It’s easy to criticise lawyers in the public service from the platforms of privacy and you forget what’s happening in your backyard. We want to ensure that the legal profession adheres to very high standards of performance. Let’s carry that burden of ensuring that we adhere to standards,” he said.
CJ Malaba said the presence of strong institutions in any given society is the panacea to equal access to justice for communities.
He said an independent judiciary and vibrant and independent legal profession enhances access to justice and the rule of law.
“This is a good platform to discuss how to collectively contribute to the fulfillment of the Sustainable Development Goal 16. A gathering of this nature is extremely significant and an opinion forming gathering where we should focus on measures that will ensure enhancement of justice delivery as we remain focused to achieve our goal.
“As lawyers and jurists in Sadc, we are all lawyers. There may be differences but let’s not fight. Differences should not be a sign of enmity. A society with a weak and compromised judiciary is unlikely to have respect for the rule of law because where there is no rule of law courts and lawyers simply become superfluous,” he said.
CJ Malaba said when there is no rule of law and when judgments are predetermined, good extensive citing of precedence and eloquent addresses in court will count for nothing.
He implored lawyers not to focus on others’ mistakes, saying making a wrong judgment doesn’t amount to disrespect for the rule of law hence the need for constructive criticism.
The Chief Justice said the theme of the conference: “Supporting strong institutions for equal access to justice for all” resonates well with the common goal of ensuring that there is an effective and efficient justice delivery system.
Keynote speaker at the conference Kenyan lawyer Professor Patrick Lumumba said Africa must have its own institutions of justice with capability for delivering justice without fear or favour to achieve the Africa Agenda 2063.
During the deliberations, participants said in some cases the judiciary is a threat to human rights through high court fees.
Human rights lawyer Ms Beatrice Mtetwa said in some instances differences between courts and lawyers are a threat to independence and the rule of law.
Constitutional lawyer Prof Lovemore Madhuku said the rule of law should not be about lawyers but for all citizens hence it should be deepened. — @ncubeleon
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