Judiciary Strategic Plan 2017-2020 – Vision 2020 |08 February 2017

Plan outlines four-year commitment to strengthening the judiciary

The Seychelles Judiciary has launched its second strategic plan 2017-2020 – a vision to take the judiciary forward to 2020 while committing itself to fulfill it. Described as the Vision 2020, the plan, which is a building on the previous one, was launched yesterday at the Palais de Justice at Ile du Port. It is aimed at strengthening the judiciary through a four-year commitment and enhancing its theme for this year ‘Unity in Diversity’.

The plan will be conducted under three main umbrellas - fewer, faster and fit for purpose with the end result making the judiciary a dynamic institution with contented staff working together to promote fewer litigious disputes and faster case resolution by offering high quality, fit for purpose solutions for court cases.

Fewer is about reducing the number of cases in the system, by reducing the backlog and promoting resort to alternative dispute resolution instead of filing a court case; faster is about improving the speed at which cases are processed through the judicial system and fit for purpose is about ensuring that the facilities, sources and staffing are suitable to enable the achievement of the judiciary’s goals and that outcomes suit the needs of the public. The plan outlines ways and means of achieving these visions.

The objectives of Vision 2020 is to put in place better court processes, more transparency, efficiency and consistency; ensure adequate, stable and predictable funding; support and train judges, magistrates, staff members to ensure excellent standard of legal work produced; revive and revamp JUCOS; build healthy team; keep people loyal and staff feeling rewarded; make the judiciary’s improvements sustainable and build and maintain relationships with partners.

Present at the launch were prominent practitioners, members and staff of the judiciary and of the judicial system; the speaker, leader of the opposition and members of the National Assembly, commissioner of police, attorney general and other stakeholders.

In her address Chief Justice Mathilda Twomey said the plan summarises the judiciary’s navigation strategy for the next four years in which they have distilled down the essential matters to ensure it has achievable outcomes for that four-year period.

She is of the view that without a clear plan, a commitment which delineates their resource priorities and focuses on their collective mind, the judiciary could be pulled in many directions.

She added the plan has got the input of all stakeholders so it can be inclusive. And that the engagement of all stakeholders is crucial if the judiciary wants to build partnerships that can encourage real development and change in Seychelles.

“I wanted this process of setting the strategic plan to be fully inclusive and we invited each of the courts and each administrative division to consult its members and answer several questions posed in a questionnaire. We received great input across the board and were delighted with the raw honesty of the replies received.

“You will see that an important part of our plan is the engagement with relevant stakeholders and partners. The Bar association, the ministries, government agencies, the diplomatic corps and the civil society – we want to build partnerships that can encourage real development and change in Seychelles. I call on you all to support us in achieving the goals of our plan and to hold us to account if we stray from our course,” said Mrs Twomey.

But Mrs Twomey is also aware of the challenges such a plan entails which requires resources for its mobilisation and success, as the judiciary is under a budget restriction which will clearly be a problem to the development of the plan. She expressed positive hope of working with the Assembly and the Department of Finance and of Legal Affairs to address the very real resource constraints that her institution faces while maintaining the independence of the Judiciary as it is a separate branch of state.

“Our institution requires resources to ensure that Seychelles has an independent, impartial and excellent centre for dispute resolution, this is our constitutional mandate and we are committed to achieving it,” said Mrs Twomey.

Regarding the previous plan of 2010-2014, Mrs Twomey hailed its various achievements and accomplishments.

“The previous strategic plan introduced much change in the Judiciary and when we look around today, you can see how much we benefited under it. We have these beautiful new premises in the form of the Palais de Justice and Annex, with purpose-built facilities. The backlog of the Court became a key phrase bandied about and judges found themselves under the spotlight. A case management system was put in place to modernise the judiciary and also to enable detailed scrutiny of case progress. We introduced committees to monitor operations and processes, engaged with local and international partners, and spent long hours implementing the minute details of the changes that we hoped to see. When Former Chief Justice Egonda-Ntende’s term as Chief Justice ended we were significantly on the way to the goals that had been set out in the aspirational Strategic Plan. We are grateful for his gift at harnessing resources, his attention to detail and his stubborn ability to steer the course straight ahead,” Mrs Twomey said.

Joelle Barnes, Legal Adviser at the judiciary, briefed the audience on the details of the Vision 2020 and how they will be achieved. Each member of the audience got a copy of the plan.