The Minister, who was presenting a budget proposal for the Administration of Justice (AOJ) for the financial year 2024/2025, said for the outstanding fees for pro deo attorneys (lawyers whose fees are paid directly by the government after being assigned to defendants of limited financial means especially in criminal cases such as murder), P19, 578, 000. 00 has been paid while an outstanding balance of P3, 400, 000.00 is yet to be paid.
“As I indicated during the last year’s committee that AOJ has outstanding pro deo fees owed to attorneys who were defending matters, such fees have been paid while the remaining fees will be paid off by the end of this financial year,” he said.
In requesting the approval for recurrent budget of P406, 652, 670 and development budget of P27, 212, 880 for 2024/2025, he said the focus of the AOJ continues to be on restructuring the judiciary to make it more relevant and responsive to the emerging trends of the 21st century.
He emphasised that it included amongst others, achieving its goal of access to justice by increasing the location of courts in an effort to bring justice closer to the people and promoting digitalisation in its quest to achieve the status of a world class judiciary. “The core mandate of the Judiciary is to hear civil and criminal proceedings and determine in a manner which ensures peace, safety, good governance and the rule of law,” Shamukuni said. The minister, in making proposal for the development budget, explained that the AOJ continues to improve its facilities including Magistrates and judges houses.
He noted that security was being reinforced for the magistrates’ residences and that the construction of boundary walls, guard houses, erection of electric fence and motorised gates to enhance security at Magistrates houses have been completed at Shakawe and Hukuntsi. “The process of refurbishing three (3) Judges houses in Lobatse and two Judges houses in Gaborone is ongoing and due to be completed in the next financial year. There were some delays in the scoping of these projects due to a lack of technical capacity. The employment of expert officers in the area of electrical engineering, quantity surveying and mechanical engineering, which was done towards the end of the third quarter, will improve our efficiency in project implementation,” he said. Shamukuni said over the years, they have not been able to carry out planned preventative maintenance in most of the court’s buildings and it has resulted in dilapidated buildings and dysfunctional systems. He revealed that they continue to engage the Ministry of Finance to secure a budget for the maintenance of the buildings and that a budget has been provided to enable them to install new fire alarms and fire suppression system in courts where they are not available and rehabilitate existing service in others. “This is critical to ensure building assets and the users are protected,” the minister said. Highlighting on planned policies and strategies for 2024/2025, the minister said the Trust Property Unit participated in the National Risk Assessment (NRA) exercise and co-chaired the working group responsible for assessing the money laundering risks related to legal persons and arrangements. He revealed that with the conclusion of the NRA exercise imminent, the Trust Property Unit plans to embark on cascading the findings to the trust sector and commencing the sectoral risk assessment.
The NRA and sectoral risk assessment will enable risk-based supervision including developing inspection plans and that preliminary steps such as data collection commenced in February 2024. Shamukuni also said land has been secured for the Palapye High Court and Charles Hill Magistrates’ Courts and both projects are to be include in the coming National Development Plan (NDP 12) and the construction of the Serowe Magistrates Court, which was to be established through the Public Private Partnership (PPP), the feasibility study is complete and that they are awaiting the reports from the consultant. “Maintenance of court facilities will commence in the coming year to address major maintenance issues experienced throughout our courts. Amongst those earmarked for refurbishment are; structural repairs and air conditioning repairs at the Francistown High Court, Mochudi and Shakawe Magistrates houses, air conditioning at both Gaborone High Court and Broadhurst Magistrates’ Court, Molepolole Magistrates’ Court, Jwaneng Magistrates’ Court to be implemented in the coming year 2024/25,” he said.
He stated that it will enhance the appearance of and also improve functionality of facilities to better serve internal and external customers. Shamukuni noted that the long awaited Commercial Court is coming as the AOJ is in collaboration with Ministry of Trade, under the Support Job Creation and Investments to ensure its establishment. “The project has commenced with a consultant engaged and already on site. The first two phases of the project, which include the inception meeting and the production of an inception report, have been done,” he said.
The minister said the project is now on its third stage which involves consultations with critical stakeholders, which will be followed by design and production of a feasibility report by the consultant, of which the production of a feasibility report is expected to be in April 2024. Regarding legal issues, the minister stated that the Amendment of Rules of Court continues to be a development commitment for the Rules Advisory Committee as every year the committee receives proposals from users of these Rules for the upgrade and amendment of the Rules in order to address the growing trends that affect court processes and to make the processes more efficient and litigant friendly. He mentioned that currently, the Rules Advisory Committee has placed before the Chief Justice recommendations for the amendment of certain Rules of Court. “The recommendations include the amendment of Order 48 of the Rules of the Magistrates’ Court, to include longhand manuscript notes of the Magistrates at trials to constitute the official record of the proceedings of a case.
This will assist in transcription of case proceedings in the absence of a court reporter,” explained the minister. On challenges experienced by the Judiciary, the minister mentioned among other things lack of manpower and backlog of cases. “The Administration of Justice still grapples with manpower shortages, more especially the essential court support staff, which includes, among others, court reporters, and bench clerks. Most of the judicial officers are assigned one of each, which result in officers working long hours to compensate for the shortages,” he said. He explained that this adversely affects staff wellbeing and the efficiency of the courts though he pointed out that they are hopeful that their continued engagement with the Directorate of Public Service Management (DPSM) will bear fruits in addressing the issue. In conclusion, Shamukuni revealed that the Judiciary is still battling with case backlog of which was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated restrictions. “Court schedules are currently in 2025 due to clogging of cases. A committee has been set up chaired by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Justice, to find lasting solutions to the longstanding issue of backlog of cases. Data is currently being collected by all concerned stakeholders to determine the extent of the backlog and statuses of these cases,” the minister said.
