The judiciary has issued a statement expressing its “dismay, disappointment, and considerable disagreement” with the findings of the latest Afrobarometer report.
It said the report presented an “imbalanced and occasionally misleading picture” of the judiciary’s role, performance, and challenges.
“It needs to be emphasised that the judiciary covers only the courts and no other institutions within the justice sector. Yet too often, the report blames the judiciary for matters falling outside its responsibility… For example, the assumption that the judiciary determines who appears before the courts and for what crimes reflects a fundamental misunderstanding. This responsibility rests with prosecutorial authorities, not the judiciary,” it noted.
Public confidence and empirical trends
The judiciary argued that while the report suggested that only 44% of citizens are confident that ordinary people can obtain justice in court, court filings by being consistently rising by 30% annually, is “a strong empirical evidence that citizens continue to rely on the judiciary to resolve disputes.”
On the report’s findings that only 34% and 31% of respondents feel they could access legal advice and afford to take a legal problem to court which reflects structural challenges within the broader justice ecosystem, the judiciary parried that these concerns, do not indicate failings of the judiciary itself as legal aid provision, affordability, and public legal education fall under the responsibility of other government institutions and civil society actors.
“The judiciary has consistently advocated for the expansion of legal aid services and continues to support efforts aimed at increasing access to justice. Notably, alternative dispute resolution mechanisms have been strengthened as more accessible, cost-effective options for resolving disputes -an important development that the report, unfortunately, overlooks…” it noted.
The judiciary further noted: “ The claim that only 46% trusts the courts ‘somewhat’ or ‘a lot’ should be assessed within the wider landscape of public trust in institutions… While we take such feedback seriously, it must also be weighed against positive indicators such as growing case volumes, enhanced case clearance rates, and institutional reforms.
“The suggestion that 43% of citizens believe most or all judges and magistrates are corrupt is one of the most troubling assertions in the report. Allegations of corruption must be approached with seriousness and handled through appropriate accountability mechanisms. However, broad generalisations unsupported by concrete evidence malign the integrity of the judiciary and other public officers who continue to serve with dedication under often challenging conditions.”
Click here to read the Judiciary’s full statement: https://standard.gm/judiciary-disagrees-with-afrobarometer-findings/
