First High Court session for 2004 opens, Sello made King's Counsel

Chief Justice Mahapela Lehohla has expressed his dissatisfaction with legal practitioners in the country for failing to take advantage of the Commercial Court blaming this resistance on nothing but a reluctance to work with new ideas.

In a review of the past year and future projections, during the opening of the first session of the High Court for 2004, the Chief Justice said that many cases which should have been heard by this court were filed as ordinary civil cases, thus ranking unwarrantably for position with those that were correctly before the ordinary courts. 

Another court that represented novelty was the labour Appeal Court, although this time it was not the legal practitioners who showed disinclination to use it but the fact that designated judges here also had other duties in the High Court.

"This gravitates my attention to the perennial plea for a significant increase in the number of judges in the High Court to enable that court to function effectively." 

Judges of the High Court spend much time unavoidably and necessarily sitting as panels of three, dealing with election petitions and constitution cases which have to be given priority over all other cases because of the public interest entailed in them, the Chief Justice said.

He however announced that at its sitting on February 19, the Judicial Service Commission  (JSC) will consider the appointment of two acting judges, followed by two similar appointments at the start of the following financial year.

Announcing what he said were specks of hope on the horizon, Chief Justice Lehohla said three proposed Bills impacting on the judiciary: the Judicial Education Institute Bill, the Council for Law Reporting Bill and, the Judiciary Administration Bill, give cause for positive development in this area.

The Judiciary Administration Bill in particular was inspiring in that it marks a welcome shift from centralisation and concentration of power in the executive in favour of other branches of government. Under the Bill, the Judicial Service Commission will be able to recommend to the Prime Minister to advise the King in the appointment of the Chief Justice and the President of the Court of Appeal.

The present Sections 120 (1) and 124 (10) of the Constitution confines appointment of these judicial officers by the King to advice only by the Prime Minister.

The Chief Justice also announced that the JSC at its most recent session resolved that local candidates must be given first consideration in appointments to the Court of Appeal. They not only found the fact that the Chief Justice was only an ex-officio member of the Court of Appeal and not its leader peculiar, but also agreed that a Court of Appeal judge can double as a High Court judge as well, he said.

A disturbing trend that the Chief Justice said he had discovered was the the granting of bail for the second time to offenders who had already committed equally or more serious offences. Police statistics show that in Mokhotlong and Mafeteng, there 13 such cases, Qacha's' Nek and Berea had 12, Thaba Tseka 10, Quthing 8, Mohale's Hoek 6, Botha Bothe 5, Leribe 24 and, Maseru 98.

"This abuse of discretion cannot be encouraged, " the Chief Justice said.

On a more positive note, the Chief Justice announced that King Letsie III has bestowed the" honour and dignity" of King's Counsel (KC) on the doyenne of the legal profession, Advocate Khalaki Sello.

04 February 2004