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Judiciary relates achievements over the last five years |30 September 2020

Judiciary relates achievements over the last five years

Chief Justice Mathilda Twomey officially steps down as CJ today and to conclude her tenure, a press conference was held at the Palais de Justice at Ile du Port on Monday to talk about the Judiciary’s work and achievements from 2015-2020.

Joelle Barnes (legal research), Juliana Esticot (Registrar’s office), Nichole Mathurin (head of human resources), Benjamin Vipin (senior magistrate) and Kevin Cummings (library and archives) updated the press with the developments in the judiciary for the last five years.


Achievements during the period 2015 to 2020 – Office of the Chief Justice

Joelle Barnes talked about the achievements during the period 2015 to 2020 – with regard to the Office of the Chief Justice.

“During the period under the guidance of the Chief Justice, the Office of the Chief Justice has been more firmly established and has worked hard to implement the changes and modernisations envisaged in the Strategic Plan. The Office of the Chief Justice (OCJ) assists with the administrative functions of the Chief Justice and the Judiciary and is active in daily monitoring and responding to the needs of the Judiciary. Additionally, the OCJ provides support to the 8 Judges, 1 master and 6 magistrates and the Registrar. We are responsible for monitoring performance and conducting periodic accounting on case completion and the achievement of the standards of the Judiciary.”

During this five-year period the following developments occurred within the Judiciary

-           Introduced a four-year plan to take the Judiciary from 2016 to 2020, with the key goals of reducing backlog and the cases in the system, speeding up the efficiency within the Judiciary and ensuring that it is more accessible, accountable and fit for purpose.

-           Established Court Practice Directions to secure the attendance of attorneys at trials and for the case management of civil and criminal cases at Supreme Court and Magistrates’ Court levels. This has been a major success and has seen better case management, trial certainty and procedures across the judiciary.

-           Reintroduced legal training for Judges and Magistrates and worked with the Southern African Chief Justices Forum (SACJF) and Judicial Institute for Africa (JIFA) for Judges and Magistrates to secure judicial skills and leadership training and training in specialist fields like Human Rights and Environmental Law and Judgment writing.

-           Introduced rules for the Election Petitions, Proceeds of Crime (Civil Confiscation) Rules, finalised new rules for Pupillage and the Bar Examination. Increased the Court Fees and Costs.

-           Grew the office of the Chief Justice with the recruitment of highly skilled legal researchers, a Public Relations Officer and the library and Archiving services. Actively restructured the administration of the Judiciary – introduced the Director of HR, Director of Legal Affairs in the OCJ and the Director of Logistics and Operations.

-           Adopted sentencing guidelines for offences under the Misuse of Drugs Act and heard the cases brought to the Sentence Review Tribunal under the MODA 2016. As well as better informal guidelines for sentencing across other areas of the Judiciary.

-           Represented the Seychelles Judiciary at a regional and international level on bodies such as the Southern African Chief Justice’s Forum, the Conference of Constitutional Jurisdictions of Africa, the World Forum on Constitutional Justice, the UN Judicial Integrity Network, the Judiciaries of the Indian Ocean and others.

-           Actively engaged with the Indian High Commission to secure the funding for the Magistrates Building.

-           Increased the number of meetings with internal and external judiciary stakeholders to ensure better partnerships and functioning of the Judiciary.

-           The establishment of a Facebook page and Judiciary website as well as key engagements with the public in interviews and on the radio were designed to debunk myths about the Judiciary and make it more approachable and known to the public.

-           Oversaw the handling of complaints against Judges and attorneys, the terms of pupillage and swearing in of all pupils, and officials.

-           Supported the Judicial committees established under the strategic plan, including the IT and CCASS committee (implementing the Judiciary’s case management system), supporting Seylii, supporting the Committees established to inquire into the conduct of legal practitioners and the Committee that conducts the annual Bar Examination.

-           The Office of the Chief Justice has actively supported Seylii (the online publication of judicial decisions) and the teaching of law at the University of Seychelles.

From the Magistrates Court

Senior Magistrate Benjamin Vipin explained that during the past five years there has been more accountability of every stakeholder in the judiciary both within the judiciary including the bench, and the bar, which was by way of case management, periodic meetings, etc.

“The Chief Justice was accessible to everyone, for guidance, support, redressals and helped to raise the standard of advocacy by trainings, new practices and procedures, speedy disposal of matters among others. Three marked areas of her contribution and upkeep apart from other areas of law, are in the field of civil law, the rights of child especially the sexual assault and the reformative approach to drug dependent, personal users under the Misuse of drugs Act. Had first-hand experience on her knowledge in civil law in the Civil Code reforms committee and also her expertise in jurisprudence, and she is an excellent teacher as well. On a personal note CJ has been an inspiration and fiercely dedicated to work and had a no nonsensical approach to work, her work speaks for herself, a person with grit and determination, but after work she brought out her creole spirit, of laughter, dance and singing,” noted Senior Magistrate Vipin.

 

Registrar’s Office

Registrar Juliana Esticot spoke mainly about the reduction from 400 backlogged cases pending on January 1, 2018 to 112 cases on December 31, 2019.

“In 2019 alone, 146 backlogged cases were cleared and the average age of our pending cases has dropped across the board. Beginning of 2020, in the Supreme Court the average age of the cases on the Civil cause list is 389 days (just over a year), down from 499 at the beginning of 2019. In the Criminal division it is 328 days (less than a year) down from 427 the year before. In the Magistrates Court the average age has reduced, except for several specific cases which skew the statistics, and have been identified. In the absence of those cases, the average age of criminal cases is 344 in 2019, and the average age of civil cases is 485 days.”

She also spoke about the reopening of Anse Royale Magistrates’ Court and how this helped in reducing the number of cases. The Registrar also noted that the revision of Court fees has also boost up the revenue of the Judiciary and also informed the press that some projects have been put on hold due to budget restraints on account of Covid-19.

 

Human resources

The head of human resources, Nichole Mathurin, noted that the organisation has seen transformation under the leadership of the Chief Justice.

“The managers have been given opportunities with continuous learning and enhancing skills to be empowered in making decisions for their sections. The determination of the employees to deliver service efficiently and confidently remain a source of motivation. The joy and courage of a great leader enables just that,” she noted.

The Judiciary was focused on building the capacity of our human resources to improve on delivery. Currently they are employing 176 staff out of whom 134 women and 42 men. Staff turnover has also decreased.

“During this time we have recruited more legal researchers and a new post created in line with the organisation’s strategic goals – such as Public Relations Officer Oct 2016. There were 7 promotions in 2016; 6 promotions 2017 and 3 promotions in 2018. The restructuring in 2019 created the opportunity for personal growth of some staff and recruitment of new people in key positions,” explained Ms Mathurin.

Judiciary is also putting emphasis on training and it works in collaboration with ANHRD to support study at degree level.

“Staff were able to participate in various trainings such as: two basic legal training sessions for court staff to familiarise with civil and criminal process; Legal terms and terminology for Court Interpreters and Reporters; various short courses in IT, French and other areas and overseas training for a different experience.”

There were also various activities for the staff welfare and wellness and a better pay structure had been put in place.

 

Library and archives

Kevin Etienne-Cummings from the library and archives spoke about the importance of this section. “Over the past year we have been laying the ground work for that vision. The library now has a space for reading and research in the Angelo Reading Room. It’s named after Professor Anthony Angelo, a New Zealander who has been helping Seychelles collect and edit its own laws since the 1980s. As significantly, it’s no longer just the library, but the Sauzier Law Library. It’s appropriately named after the late Chief Justice Andre Sauzier, who himself had a long and illustrious career as a lawyer, judge, and teacher,” related Mr Etienne-Cummings.

He also noted that they have started the modernising process by setting up a library system where the public can at least see what legal resources are available online.

“If you go to judiciary.gov.sc, you’ll follow the links to the Andre Sauzier Law Library and you can search through our collection. There is still a way to go, but we’ve moving.”

Mr Etienne-Cummings recounted that “We have had to clear some rubble in the dream space for a beautiful library, and in clearing the boxes, we found constitutional cases and important historical cases for the history and culture of Seychelles. Those cases need to be kept, archived, and ideally, if we can turn the dream space into a reality, those constitutional cases should be showcased as part of the history, laws, and culture of Seychelles.”

 

Vidya Gappy

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