Corruption in the judiciary

Corruption in the judiciary
By Editor
Monday July 14, 2008 [04:00]

TO begin with, we would like to refer to a saying of Lenin, that the attitude – that is to say, the seriousness of purpose – of any institution or organisation is measured, basically, by the attitude it takes towards its own problems, deficiencies or inadequacies, errors and so on and so forth. And in the same way, the seriousness of purpose of our judiciary will be measured by the attitude it takes towards its weaknesses.

Of course, the critics of our judiciary, those hostile towards it, will always be alert to make political capital out of those publicly admitted weaknesses. When weaknesses arise and are not admitted and subjected to self-criticism, critics of all hues take advantage of them. When weaknesses arise and are admitted and subjected to self-criticism, they may be used by hostile people, but in a very different way.

This is because in the former case, the weaknesses would not be corrected, would not be overcome while in the latter case, they would be. That is why we feel the decision taken by our judiciary to publicly admit its weaknesses, to recognise the presence of corruption among some of its members, especially among magistrates, interpreters and other support staff is a big step forward in overcoming these vices.

This forthright and serious attitude towards weaknesses is not a weakness but a strength of our judiciary. It should give us a lot of confidence in our judiciary because it clearly demonstrates that there are still many good people in this institution who deserve our understanding and support in their efforts to cleanse our judiciary of its vices.

Judge Dennis Chirwa has been very honest in his analysis of corruption in the judiciary. It is true that there is so much talk about interpreters and other support staff being used to solicit and collect bribes on behalf of magistrates.

And this talk is tarnishing the name of the judiciary and bringing down its standing among our people. It is not fair to allow an institution with so many good and decent officers to acquire such a bad reputation, to be discredited in this way. The great majority of our magistrates are decent human beings, struggling to survive like many other Zambians with similar earnings, living totally on their earned income.

But as Judge Chirwa has correctly pointed out, there are a few rotten eggs in the judiciary that are tarnishing the names of their colleagues who are doing an honest job, living within their means as dictated by their earned income. However, rotten things cannot be kept in the same basket as the good ones without contaminating, without tarnishing the latter’s names. And it is for this reason that corruption in the judiciary should be fought with all the tenacity that can be marshalled.

The judiciary is an institution that thrives on not only being fair, just and corruption-free, but also on being seen or believed to be so. Here, public perception is important. And that’s why it is dangerous for anyone to unjustifiably tarnish the name of any officer of the judiciary, especially that of a magistrate or a judge.

The observations and advice made and given by Judge Chirwa deserve serious consideration if we are to succeed in our national fight against corruption and in our efforts to establish a more just, fair and humane society in our country.

Judge Chirwa has urged “magistrates not to take bribes because they blind the eyes of the wise and subvert the cause of righteousness”. We all know what bribes can do. Bribes make even wise men blind to the truth, and prevent them from being honest in their dealings,
assessments and decisions.

We have seen for ourselves under the ten years of the Chiluba regime what damage corruption can do to a country. Who can disagree with Judge Chirwa’s observation that “corruption did not only distort the economy by making business and life expensive, but that it perpetuated poverty in society”?

Truly, corruption has done a lot of injustice to the judiciary and it is important that all citizens of goodwill join in the fight against this vice. Our national fight against corruption will not succeed if corruption is not eliminated from our courts of law, especially our magistrates’ courts.

This is where corruption cases start. And it doesn’t matter who is involved or what amounts have been stolen; all corruption cases start here – in the magistrates’ courts.

Therefore, if corruption cases are handled by corrupt magistrates, our chances of succeeding in our fight against corruption will remain very low. Our magistrates’ courts are very important in the fight against corruption and other crimes, and we must pay a great deal of attention to their operations and administration.

Everything possible should be done to ensure that our magistrates strictly adhere to the judicial code of conduct. We should also ensure that the conditions of service for our judicial staff are reasonable and enable them to live an honest life, to survive on earned income in line with their station in life.

And whatever the problems, we urge our magistrates to desist from corruption and live honest lives – crime does not pay.

We also appeal to those who pay bribes to our judicial officers to stop doing so. Whatever advantages they may gain from getting favourable decisions by bribing court officials are outweighed by the damage they are doing to their country that will come to haunt them tomorrow.

We say this because tomorrow they will probably have to face the same corrupt judiciary from a weaker point and unfairly be sent to jail. Corruption is a double-edged sword – it can save you today but chop you to pieces tomorrow. Let us “eliminate that human greed of accumulating dishonest wealth”.

The judiciary cannot afford to have corrupt elements in its ranks, let alone take a neutral stand against corruption. We say this because the fight against corruption will not succeed if the judiciary is not part of it. The judiciary must be part of the fight against corruption if we are to harbour any hope of defeating this dangerous vice.