HIGH Court Judge Justice Charles Hungwe has urged judicial officers to judiciously finalise cases brought before them to help rebuild public confidence.
OBEY MANAYITI
Officially opening the 2014 legal year at Mutare Circuit Court yesterday, Justice Hungwe said there was need to continue reviewing and refining processes to ensure criminal trials are concluded within a reasonable time frame and to reduce the backlog.
“In Zimbabwe, as in many countries, delay remains a key issue for policymakers and practitioners who value efficiency and effectiveness as critical outcomes of the criminal justice system,” he said.
“Delay has become a benchmark against which criminal justice performance is measured. This is for good reason — delay, among other things, may be responsible for increasing community disillusionment with the justice system and decreasing satisfaction with the law. Delay affects everyone, the accused who might or might not be guilty, the victims and their family who have been aggrieved by the offences against them, and the community who demand justice, safety and protection.”
Justice Hungwe said delays in concluding court cases sometimes caused victims to endure unnecessary lengthy remand terms.
He also lamented the lack of experienced legal practitioners for practising in criminal trials, adding that the junior staffers had limited experience and authority to critically assess and negotiate during the early stages of the trial process.
Ironically, Justice Hungwe was last month given a 30-day ultimatum by the Constitutional Court to explain why he had not sentenced murder suspect Jonathan Mutsinze for a decade.
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In its ruling over the Constitutional application by Mutsinze who has been awaiting sentencing since his conviction for murder in 2003, the nine-member bench ordered Justice Hungwe to provide it with an explanation within a month, which he did last week.
