adminthe justice delivery system, Supreme Court judge Justice Rita Makarau has said.
This, the judge said, would minimise baseless claims of corruption levelled against members of the judicial, prosecution and police.
She called on players in the justice delivery system to come up with mechanisms to inform the victims of crime on the development of their cases as well as explaining to them the court procedure.
Justice Makarau, who is also secretary of the Judicial Service Commission made the remarks while addressing a passout parade for 315 recruit constables in Harare last week.
Victims, she said, were being starved of information vital for their cases, the moment the cases get to the court.
She said the current system was treating accused persons as more important clients than the victims considering that court orders and judgments only address the suspects and not the victims.
The system attaches more importance to the suspects who get full information and developments in the cases before the courts.
“I believe the police and the judiciary can combine efforts and come up with separate or joint programmes that will enable the victims of crime to have more information on the progress of their cases, the formal steps of a trial or hearing and its likely impact on the case,” said Justice Makarau.
“Victims of crime expect to be the centre of attention and indeed they are until the justice delivery system kicks in. Then, they lose their centre stage status and sometimes become the least important person in the trial of the matter.
“If convenient to us the key players in the justice delivery system, they (victims) can become State witnesses. Sometimes we do not even need them and we tell them that they are not necessary for the prosecution of the accused person.”
Justice Makarau quickly emphasised that she was not advocating for prosecution reform.
“I am simply calling for an internal interrogation of how we, the police and the judiciary, as players in the justice delivery system, treat victims of crime.
“I believe that because we are not giving out information to the victims of crime, allegations and perceptions of corrupt practices by players in the justice system will be very difficult to displace.
“Some allegations are genuine while others are based on lack of information,” she said.
The judge said the victims, for lack of information, at times do not understand why bail is granted to suspects that they feel committed the offence, hence there is need for explanation of the judiciary’s rulings.
Justice Makarau said the victims of crime had a right to be informed about the outcome of their cases.
Online Reporter