Africa-Press – Lesotho. The Judiciary has partially phased in services following the announcement by acting Prime Minister (PM) Motsoahae Thabane’s statement, on the ease of lockdown regulations and the publishing of government gazette Legal Notice No. 41 of 2020 Public Health (COVID-19) Regulations, 2020. After the breakout of the Coronavirus (COVID-19), the World Health Organization (WHO) declared it a pandemic and thereafter the government of Lesotho declared a State of Emergency on March 27 and the other one on April 15.
The two declarations were accompanied by the gazettes which saw their regulations.
As a measure to curb and contain the spread of the pandemic, movement was restricted, only essential service rendering businesses and offices remained opened including the courts of law. The recently published gazette is about the easing of lockdown regulations. This is according to the statement released by the Registrar of the High Court and Appeal Court Advocate ‘Mathato Sekoai on Thursday. “… court users and all stakeholders in the administration and delivery of justice are kindly advised that all services of the Judiciary are being reinstated
forthwith,” reads statement in pertinent part. The statement further says members of the public are not allowed to attend to the court proceedings with exemption of those who receive services from the office of the Master of High Court, Superior Courts, Subordinate and Lower Courts; they are however expected to observe COVID-19 health precautionary measures such as wearing masks. The first sitting of the Appeal Court was suspended amid the COVID-19 fears which was supposed to have been in April.
In that statement issued by the President of the Appeal Court, Professor Kananelo Mosito, he said the court will use teleconferencing to carry out its proceedings. Those sessions (April) have therefore been postponed to May 12 to May 29 and judgments will be delivered on the date not yet announced.
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