Retired CJ urges judges to end delayed cases in courts

Lushoto. Tanzania’s retired Chief Justice Chande Othman has urged the judges of the High Court of Tanzania to quickly end the cases assigned to them in order to allay anxieties in society and for them to be free.

He has said delayed cases, including those of public interest, apart from creating anxieties to the public, they also give the media a chance to report a lot.

He cited as an example the delayed case of 19 Special Seats MPs (Halima Mdee and co-defendants) who challenge their expulsion from Chadema party membership

The retired CJ made the call yesterday during the opening of the orientation training for 22 new judges of the High Courts of Tanzania and Zanzibar.

The training seminar is being held at the Institute of Judicial Administration (IJA) in Lushoto District, Tanga Region.

He said due to the structure of the Court in the country, the judge is the one who sets the schedule for the hearing of the cases assigned to him.

Due to that, he said, the judge has no reason why he should delay making the judgment and giving a copy of his judgment to the plaintiff so that if he is not satisfied, he can make an early appeal.

“The basic thing is that every judge of the High Court handles the cases assigned to them and not the lawyers or those involved in the cases,” said the retired CJ.

For his part, Balozi Ammy Mpungwe, who is an instructor for the training, said the increase in the number of judges of the High Court and the Court of Appeal in Tanzania will stimulate the speed up of investment activities in the economy and businesses because the cases related to business disputes will be heard and judgments made quickly.

“Tanzania is not an island, it has started to open its doors to investment, it is obvious that business disputes may arise, including international ones, so it is wise for the High Court in the country to prepare its judges so that they should not be part of case delays. He said the IJA has emerged as the only judicial administration in East Africa for running programs that improve the work performances of court executives. Zanzibar High Court and Commercial Court judge Muumin Khamis Kombo said the training will improve the blue economy on the part of Zanzibar.

“As judges from Zanzibar attending this training, we will be able to stimulate the speed up of hearing commercial cases assigned to us,” said Judge Kombo.