Judges get 30 days to clear case backlog
What you need to know:
- Acting chief registrar of the Judiciary of Tanzania Phocus Bampikya told The Citizen yesterday that the newly appointed judges were assigned to clear all old cases before being tasked for new assignments.
Dar es Salaam. The High Court of Tanzania will on October 6 start the process to hear all old cases—both civil and criminal—in various areas of the country.
Acting chief registrar of the Judiciary of Tanzania Phocus Bampikya told The Citizen yesterday that the newly appointed judges were assigned to clear all old cases before being tasked for new assignments.
Last month, President Jakaya Kikwete appointed 20 new High Court judges including, Mr Eliezer Feleshi, who before the appointment was the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
Mr Bampikya said the new judges will be fully involved in a case backlog clearance programme, which is set to take a month. He said the programme will also rope in all cases that were filed two years ago.
“We are clearing all cases that are more than two-years-old; our aim is to ensure there is no more backlog of cases in the High Court records,” Mr Bampikya said. He added:
“This programme will enable the High Court to clear all old cases, enable wananchi to get justice and give room for new issues to be resolved without too much pressure.”
The case backlog clearance programme will involve both criminal and civil cases filed at High Court of Tanzania at Tabora registry from Tabora, Urambo, Nzega and Shinyanga. Others are from Kahama, Maswa and Bariadi. Those filed at Dar es Salaam registry are from Morogoro, Coast Region and Dar es Salaam itself.
Nearly 300 cases have been listed for clearance in a programme that is set to commence next week.
Most of the cases were filed as far back as 20 years ago. The oldest case in the list was filed in 1989 by the Arrow Garments Ltd against the Registrar of Titles and two others. Commenting on the cost of running cases and other related legal procedures, Mr Bampikya said all were being covered within the Judiciary of Tanzania system.
Last year, the former minister for Constitution and Legal Affairs, Mr Mathias Chikawe, told Parliament the government was conducting a feasibility test on the viability of the e-justice project as a way to reduce backlog of cases in the country.
Moreover, the Judiciary reported that there was a tremendous achievement in clearing the backlog of cases on which at least 11,000 cases were determined in less than a year starting January, 2013.
