Judges

Fighting corruption in the judiciary is a dicey matter. There are many thin lines to consider between outright inducement/extortion and genuine demand to enable the judiciary employee carry out his responsibilities.

When a lower court judge is not equipped to do his job, he may be forced to find other ingenious ways of ensuring that he files his returns on time since the judiciary has become militarised, where you obey before complain.

Most lower court judges are literally enslaved by the powers within the judiciary, which is held in tact by the chief judge of the state. Some chief judges forget that lower court judges are their colleagues in the legal profession. There are some lower court judges that are not only senior to some judges in practice but also have better academic qualifications; so why would there be such a professional/financial disparity and lack of respect for lower court judges?

This financial/economic imbalance between high court Judges and lower court judges is one of the problems that weaken the foundation of an effective justice delivery system.

This unfair and discriminatory economic conditions meted out to lower court judges has driven the common man to disrespect and devalue the judiciary, considering that as much as 80 per cent of citizens will have access to justice that only Lower Courts provide.

In a South West state, recently, the Chief Judge (CJ), in disregard for the lower courts, cut down on all the allowances due to lower court judges. Despite the increase in funds allocated to the judiciary in the affected state, the CJ decided that the office of the chief judgeneeded more funds to magnify it than use those funds to improve service delivery at the lower courts.

Allowances for court maintenance, fuel, recharge card, impress and others were drastically reduced and guess who will bare the brunt. The court users who are mostly indigent and already victimised by our nations bleak economic conditions will be forced to make up the difference through acts of bribery and other forms of inducement.

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