adminMidlands Bureau Chief
BULAWAYO High Court Judge, Justice Maxwell Takuva, has attacked the magistrates’ courts for failing to try criminal cases within reasonable time and coming up with absurd sentences on petty issues. Officially opening the 2014 Legal Year for the Gweru Circuit yesterday, Justice Takuva said some courts were increasingly gaining notoriety for passing custodial sentences on accused people who commit petty crimes of assault or theft.
“When sentencing offenders the court must first decide what sort of punishment is appropriate and what the object of the sentence is. Is the object to deter the offender, deter others, compensate the victim, to punish the offender, rehabilitate the offender, protect the public or a combination of all or any of these?”
Justice Takuva said the court must take into account the object of the sentence in the case and the accused’s circumstances before fixing a penalty appropriate for the offence.
He noted that the world-wide trend was towards non-custodial sentencing.
Said Justice Takuva: “From review records submitted to the High Court in either Harare or Bulawayo, a disturbing trend has developed whereby magistrates throughout the country impose custodial sentences for petty cases of assault and or theft.
“A perusal of some of these records reveal that the court would have lost sight of the need for a rational approach to sentencing which calls for reformative and rehabilitative sentencing as opposed to retributive and deterrence in a case where a fine or community service could have met the justice of the case.”
The High Court Judge said all players in the justice delivery system should be professional when executing their duties. He said the courts were also delaying in bringing accused persons to trial in certain instances thereby disrupting the life of the person, if eventually found not guilty.
Justice Takuva said: “In criminal cases, trials are not conducted within a reasonable time. In such cases, it is the duty of the court to safeguard the right of the undefended accused.
“The court must explain the accused’s constitutional rights in a clear manner. It must also advise him of how he can protect his rights and in appropriate cases refuse further remand. As Robert Kennedy said shortly before his death: “Justice delayed is democracy denied.” In some cases, delays are caused by administrative inertia or incompetence.”
Justice Takuva urged magistrates to conduct monthly checks of criminal record books in order to ensure that outstanding matters do not escape their attention.
He said monthly returns from prisons should be scrutinised to ensure that the failure to deal with accused’s cases did not go unnoticed.
He urged prosecutors and legal practitioners to be selfless and professional by not becoming emotional and personal when dealing with matters.
Online Reporter