Africa-Press – Botswana. The nation has been reassured that cases affecting the judiciary will be dealt with fairly and objectively.
Officiating at the opening of the 2023 legal year, Chief Justice Terrence Rannowane noted that; “The year 2022 saw a number of cases affecting the judiciary, some of them emanating from within being brought before the High Court regarding various causes, including constitutional issues.”
He said though the ongoing matters might cause some concern, they attested to the fact that as a mature and well-established democracy, citizens were conscious of their rights and that anybody could sue or be sued regardless of their public standing.
Justice Rannowane said in one of his earliest meetings with the newly-appointed Law Society of Botswana (LSB) council, issues of concern to both parties were discussed and they undertook to internally engage each other before going public with their differences.
The chief justice lamented that the judiciary had in the last few years seen an unprecedented increase in attacks on its officers.
He said the attacks happened in the glare of the public and some through coordinated social media platforms.
Justice Rannowane labelled social media attacks as the worst kind because they were perpetrated by individuals using pseudo accounts.
“In some instances, some individuals often claim to know the outcome of judgments even before they are read out,” he said.
The chief justice said the unwarranted attacks under the false guise of whistleblowing had targeted judges of both the High Court and the Court of Appeal.
They undermined and compromised the rule of law and Botswana’s standing internationally and must therefore be frowned upon, he said.
Meanwhile, LSB chairperson, Mr Osego Garebamono has stated that judicial independence dictated that the courts should not be subject to improper influence from other branches of the state as well as private or partisan interests.
Stating that judges’ protection from undue influence or interference should be a key concern, he called for norms to be put in place to protect judicial independence.
“Allegations of interference should be addressed swiftly with the urgency they deserve, as they are a threat to democracy and the rule of law,” he said emphasising that the judiciary should not only be free from influence but should also be seen to be free from it.
Attorney General, Advocate Abraham Keetshabe was of the view that the judiciary was going through a storm.
“The point is that after every storm it is time for calmness,” he said.
Mr Keetshabe stated that the courts were independent enough to deal fairly with all matters brought to their attention.
The attorney general said judicial officers at all levels had the right to assert themselves before courts of law and were also entitled to ventilate their grievances before the same courts.
Botswana’s judicial system, he said, had sufficiently matured, stood the test of time and was so well established that it would deal with judicial officers’ grievances as effectively as in the past.
“Personally, I would have preferred exploring alternative ways of dealing with the concerns rather than through litigation,” said Mr Keetshabe.
The proliferation of cases against the Administration of Justice, he said, had the potential to erode public confidence in the judiciary.
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