EDITORIAL: Shortage of judges should be addressed
An old adage says that justice delayed is justice denied. This legal maxim quickly came to mind this week when the Chief Justice, Ibrahim Hamis Juma, revealed that the country needed at least 150 judges to address the critical shortages of judges. He said this at a State House ceremony last Tuesday to swear-in 21 newly-appointed judges: 15 for the High Court, and six for the Court of Appeal. His remarks – a form of an appeal to the authorities to address the problem – need to be taken with the seriousness they deserve.
It is a known fact that the Judiciary has been overwhelmingly understaffed down the years. Hence the earnest call by the sitting Chief Justice for more judges to bring the complement to the requisite 150.
This, CJ Juma explained – and as noted in The Citizen of January 30 this year – is the more necessary when one takes into account what he described as “the growing awareness on civil rights by citizens, (which) calls for the need of more Judges...The current personnel were overwhelmed in their attempts to ensure (citizens) the right to readily access Justice.”
The call for more judges by Chief Justice Juma is not exactly new. An earlier instance of this was the request in 2006 by the Chief Justice of the day, Mr Barnabas Samatta, for the government of President Jakaya Kikwete (2005-15) “to do all it can to increase the number of Judges and Justices of the Court of Appeal and the High Court of Tanzania...”
In the event, President Kikwete appointed 20 Justices in December that year, 7 women Judges in May 2008 – and two Appellate Judges in 2012. This was a welcome intervention. But more still needed to be done.
President Magufuli steps in the breach
When Dr Magufuli officially stepped into the Presidency in early November 2015, he went on to appoint and confirm Mr Ibrahim Hamis Juma as the new Chief Justice in September 2017. In June last year, the president appointed a former DPP, Dr Eliezer Feleshi, as the Principal Judge of the High Court in Tanzania Mainland.
These are only a few examples of bona fide efforts by sitting Presidents to bridge the gap between the requisite number of Judges and the actual number in place.
All those efforts notwithstanding, however, Tanzania has continued to labour under a shortage of the requisite numbers of Justices for both the High Court on the Mainland, and the Union Appellate Court.
Although CJ Juma submitted 65 candidates to Dr Magufuli from whom to select 30 Judges, the President picked only 15 for the High Court, and six for Appellate Court – financial constraints being the major challenge.
In that regard, the shortage of judges continues to plague justice dispensation in Tanzania – what with the few available judges being overworked, justice being delayed. .
No... We must find ways and means of bridging the justices shortage gap to ensure that justice is not delayed – lest it be denied to the deserving.
If legal redress is available for a party that has suffered some injury, but is not forthcoming in a timely fashion, it is effectively the same as having no redress at all.
After all, justice does have costs.
