Africa-Press – Botswana. The National Assembly on Monday through its Committee of Supply authorised close to P450 million budget for the Administration of Justice (AoJ), comprising 428 million for recurrent spending and P16 million-development budget.
Presenting the budget proposal, Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, Mr Nelson Ramaotwana said the recurrent budget, which covered personal emoluments and basic administrative costs, represented five per cent increase from the previous financial year.
He said the development budget would cover infrastructure projects including the maintenance of court facilities, maintenance of judges’ houses, improvement of magistrate housing, as well as computerisation projects such as e-filing.Mr Ramaotwana said AoJ in partnership with the Ministry of Trade and Entrepreneurship would assist in the establishment of Commercial Courts. “The report is currently under consideration with particular attention to amending the Rules of Court to facilitate the establishment of the Commercial Courts,” he said.
“In response to public outcry over unregulated deputy sherrifs, Parliament passed the Deputy Sherrif’s Act of 2024. The act serves to provide for the appointment, supervision, monitoring and regulation of the conduct of Deputy Sherrifs, the appointment of a board and fidelity fund for deputy sheriffs, and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto,” he said.
He admitted that the disposal rate of cases at the high court and magistrate courts needed to improve, as indicated by the Annual Performance of the courts for the period 2024-25.
In commenting on the AoJ budget, Minister for State President, Mr Moeti Mohwasa called for measures to strengthen the judiciary, as well as to ensure a well-resourced, fair, independent and impartial judiciary.
Minister of International Relations, Dr Phenyo Butale called for the abolition of civil imprisonment as remedial action for debtors who are unable to pay creditors over a period of time. He said such criminalised people who may be poor or struggling financially and genuinely could not pay back their debts.
Okavango West legislator, Mr Kenny Kapinga said the recent Carter Morupisi versus the State appeal case raised concern about hierarchy of courts, with a lower court having overruled a higher court, something he said needed to be clarified to avoid future ambiguity.
Kanye West MP, Mr Victor Phologolo said the backlog of cases before the Department of Justice was worrisome as it takes a long time for cases to be adjudicated, which denied involved parties their right to be served justice timeously.Bobirwa MP, Mr Taolo Lucas, decried delay in administration of estates of deceased persons by Master of the High Court, which he said denied inheritance to deserving families, seeking to meet basic needs of surviving children who may require school fees, food and transportation.
He said such delays in the dispensing deceased’s estate, including property or livestock may lead to such asserts being lost to their rightful owners over time.
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