CORRUPTION COURT STARTS OPERATIONS

Chief Justice, Mohamed Othman Chande.

The Economic, Corruption and Organised Crime High Court’s Division has started to operate following the decision by President John Magufuli to assent the bill passed by the Parliament to establish such special court.

Chief Justice (CJ) Mohamed Othman Chande said in Dar es Salaam that the president endorsed the bill to become law since July, this year and the same has already been published in the government gazette. He pointed out that the rules governing the operation of the court have been prepared.

“These rules are ready and will be published next week to guide how the court will operate,” the head of the judiciary told a press conference. Such rules, according to the CJ, indicate how witnesses that would be called to testify during the trial would be protected and provide the procedure on how the cases to be determined by the court should be filed.

He pointed out further that cases that would be filed before the court dealing with economic crime and corruption in the country would be determined without any delay and that they were committed that the mission for establishing the court is achieved.

The establishment of the court comes after a heated debate, with most people alleging it would help address graft problems in the country and speed up dispensation of justice. Currently, there are three special courts established as divisions of the High Court, specifically handling labour, commercial and land cases.

But there are critics who say that such courts have not been able to reduce the disputes that are pending in the country on the areas for which they were created.

Meanwhile, the CJ pointed out that the president has allowed the judiciary to proceed with the process of recruitment of judges, considering available shortage and pilling up of old cases that were still pending before all divisions of the High Courts.

He gave an example at the High Court’s Land Division where there were only seven judges who are each required to determine a total of 442 cases annually. “Under such circumstances, there is a need to recruit more judges.

Already, the president has given us the green light to proceed with the process and about 145 people have already applied for the post in the arrangement that was announced by the Judicial Service Commission,” he said.

Daily News