Simplified court processes vital – acting CJ

SIMPLIFIED court processes and procedures through the Service Charters will greatly assist the Judiciary provide timely and accessible justice to Zambians, acting Chief Justice Michael Musonda has said.

Mr Justice Musonda said all stakeholders in law-making including the Judiciary and Parliament have an obligation to ensure that the laws made are responsive to the people.

He added that laws should be accessible and easily understandable to the citizens.

Mr Justice Musonda said this at the launch of the Service Charters at the Supreme Court in Lusaka yesterday.

The Judiciary in partnership with Transparency International Zambia ( TIZ) developed Service Charters for the Local Court, Court of Appeals, Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court.

Accordingly, the Service Charters would give an insight of the services each court offers, as well as the practice and procedure.

“The simplified processes and procedures will make it easier for the people to have access to justice. If laws are intended to serve the people, then these laws, processes and procedures must not be alienated from the people it serves,” Mr Justice Musonda said.

TIZ chapter vice-president Annie Chewe, said that the Service Charters were an important tool for kick-starting the system-wide interventions that would assist address corruption in Zambia.

“The Service Charters will provide both judicial and nonjudicial staff with clear standards to strive for in service delivery and the mechanism by which the people shall participate in the dispensation of justice without compromising independence, impartiality, dignity, accessibility and effectiveness of the courts of judicature,” Dr Chewe said.