Incoming CJ inherits judiciary challenges

ESwatini’s incoming Chief Justice will not be inheriting a judiciary with a clean sheet. This follows the recent death of Chief Justice Bheki Cuthbert Moses Maphalala, reports the Times of eSwatini. The new incumbent will inherit a system already carrying a substantial backlog of cases, shortages of judicial officers and other staff, questions around conditions of service, concerns about court administration, a major reform agenda and, perhaps most importantly, a public confidence deficit that has been aggravated by a series of disturbing reports involving the administration of justice. Maphalala himself inherited some of these challenges. The question facing his successor is whether the new Chief Justice can move the judiciary from repeatedly identifying its problems to demonstrating that those problems are being systematically resolved. The most immediate item on the new Chief Justice’s table will be the backlog. The judiciary has reportedly been preparing a five-year strategy to deal with a backlog of more than 29 000 civil and criminal cases. The proposed strategy included the establishment of a Criminal Case Clearing Committee and greater co-operation among judges, magistrates, prosecutors, police and Correctional Services. Some cases had reportedly remained unresolved for a decade or more. The problem is not confined to the figure of 29 000. The new Chief Justice, therefore, faces a basic question of capacity: How does the judiciary dispose of thousands of outstanding matters while ensuring that speed does not come at the expense of justice?