The Justice sector is meeting
in Maseru for a week beginning July 26 to look at the various studies and
surveys undertaken within the sector and decide on the changes needed for
it to be more effective.
Officially opening the five
day meeting, Minister of Justice, Human Rights and Rehabilitation
and of Law and Constitutional Affairs, Mr. Refiloe Masemene said the
sector faces the great challenge of reducing the high numbers of judgments
pending in the Courts of Law, despite the high number of judges that have
been provided to help facilitate the system.
The Minister urged the
participants to take the workshop seriously and get as much information as
possible so that they could disseminate it to others to improve their
work. He was however also critical of the local media which he said does
not report issues relating to justice properly. This should be discussed
at length at the conference to come up with a lasting solution.
The meeting will also discuss the Lesotho Justice Sector Development
Programme (LJSDP)
report on problems of the Justice Sector, which identified during its
review of the sector that there is no co-ordination across the sector, no
consultation, no communication and strategic planning.
Due to a lack of training in
crime investigation for the members of the Lesotho Mounted Police Service
(LMPS), there are many allegations of torture and abuse of persons who
have been arrested, the report said. It also called into question the
efficacy of the bail system showing how there were numerous cases in which
people were granted M100.00 bail for
murder only to abscond and never to be found again.
The conference is attended
among others by judges of the High Court and the Court of Appeal, LMPS,
Lesotho Prison Service officials, public prosecutors, NGO's and members of
the public.