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Chief Justice Luke Malaba

Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter
CHIEF Justice Luke Malaba says he has a vision to transform the country’s judiciary system to meet international standards.

In his official and maiden address to the Law Society of Zimbabwe (LSZ) Winter School since his appointment three months ago, CJ Malaba, who was guest of honour at a dinner organised by the LSZ on Saturday night, expressed concern about standards of representation in the country which he said compromise the justice delivery system.

“The subject of this winter school dovetails with the vision I am setting for our judiciary, which is centred on basic standards. These call for one to be determined and committed to providing efficient delivery of justice.

“There is no compromise on that one because that’s what I live for. If you are interested in being with me, join that bandwagon,” said CJ Malaba.

He said most lawyers criticise the bench or accuse judges of being “hard” when judgments are not in their favour, but in his view there is no difference between a lawyer and a judge since they use the same standards.

“Procedural law is equal to substantive law. It’s a concept attesting to international best practices and is defined by our Constitution. We need to have jurisprudence, which is diligent and honest. We can’t have jurisprudence with sub-standard performance.

“We can’t just criticise a judge simply because you don’t like a judgment but ask yourself what contribution you made to that judgment. We want lawyers who are sharp thinkers and come to court with well researched, balanced and novel cases which can lead to landmark judgments. It is important for Zimbabwean lawyers to match international standards and if it means we have to specialise, let’s do that but first we need to raise the standards and focus on performance,” said CJ Malaba.

He bemoaned the levels of competence in the legal fraternity where several cases are dismissed because lawyers fail to apply due diligence.

The Chief Justice said legal practitioners are powerful because they represent people on life issues.

He took a swipe at some lawyers whom he said walk into a courtroom clueless about their cases.

“I am just concerned about the standard of representation; we can’t afford to fall behind other countries so let’s perform to the highest standards,” he said.

As an example, the chief justice said he had noted about 60 defective Notices of Appeal in Harare and Bulawayo because of failure by lawyers to comply with rules.

The Winter School, held under the theme: “Staying ahead of the pack: Remaining relevant in the face of multi-faceted competition,” sought to unpack the future of lawyers in the changing world.

LSZ vice president Mr Thandaza Masiye Moyo said the fraternity fully subscribes to the CJ’s concern about standards.

He said there are more than 1 500 practicing lawyers in the private sector and almost an equal number in industry, commerce and Government.

@ncubeleon