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Last week, the Law Society of Zimbabwe called on Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku to take action against underperforming judges. The LSZ said just censuring the underperforming judges was not enough. The lawyers, who were responding to the Chief Justice’s comments while opening the 2015 legal year on Monday last week, said they would have been happier if his speech had come stronger on how such neglect or failure to perform as reasonably expected would be dealt with.

“The LSZ calls upon the Chief Justice to go beyond merely denouncing such conduct. He ought to come up with concrete measures to deal with errant judges particularly in the light of the Judicial Code of Conduct which prescribes timesframes for finalising matters. This is crucial as it will address the issue of public confidence in the system,” said the lawyers.

Chief Justice Chidyausiku disclosed during his address that one judge wrote only two judgments the whole year compared to 72 that the best performing judge, Justice Nicholas Mathonsi, wrote during the same period.

The lawyers are very right in imploring Chief Justice Chidyausiku to go beyond mere censuring lazy judges because their conduct is adversely affecting the administration of justice.

The lawyers on their part should similarly ensure that the conduct of their members is beyond reproach.

Reports that a third of the lawyers practising in Zimbabwe are being investigated by LSZ for various cases of fraud and corruption are very disturbing. According to the LSZ, there were 1,240 registered lawyers in 2014 but almost 400 of them are under investigation, putting a dent on the profession for which honesty is a cardinal rule.

Lawyers themselves have admitted that the statistics are shocking and indicated a decline in standards.

The LSZ president, Lloyd Mhishi, said most of the lawyers were being investigated for stealing from trust accounts.

Lawyers are a critical component of the justice delivery system and therefore misconduct by lawyers erodes public confidence in the system.

Members of the public rely on the service of lawyers when they seek redress at the courts and lawyers are therefore supposed to be men and women of high integrity whose conduct is beyond reproach. Lawyers are entrusted with very important responsibilities such as collecting cash on behalf of their clients which is usually banked in the law firm’s trust accounts.

It is therefore worrying when lawyers who are supposed to be custodians of such funds turn thieves.

Lawyers who have expressed dismay at the conduct of lazy judges, should be equally concerned about the conduct of their fellow members who are bringing the name of the profession into disrepute.

The LSZ had over the years earned a reputation of managing to rein in errant lawyers but we are of the opinion that the system could have somehow relaxed given the increasing number of errant lawyers. The figure of 400 lawyers being investigated is just too high.

We want to once again call on both judges and lawyers to uphold ethics in order to ensure they deliver justice. Errant judges or lawyers have no place in our justice delivery system and should be weeded out.