Justice system tainted by bad eggs in chain

A suggestion by the Judges and Magistrates’ Vetting Board that all staff in the justice chain undergo vetting cannot be ignored. The current system where judicial officers — including police, prosecutors, prison wardens, probation officers and paralegals — are not accountable to the public should be overhauled in its entirety.

The board’s interim report argues persuasively that many officials interact in a corrupt way with litigants. It points out that there are numerous instances of documents being deliberately misfiled or altered and money paid for court fees or fines misappropriated.

As Solicitor-General Njee Muturi observed when unveiling the report, all the officials involved in the administration of justice should be part of the transformation of the Judiciary.

Clearly, ignoring any players in the justice chain-link would open the way for criminal elements to bring the system down. After all, the strength of any system is equivalent to its weakest point.

Weak points

Mr Sharad Rao, the board’s chairman, revealed one of these weak points in his explanation that some of the judicial officers were the ones who perpetuated corruption on claims that they were acting on behalf of judges.

The way judicial staff treat their employers, the public who pay their salaries, is also wanting. The culture of hostility, disrespect and intimidation should be consigned to the dustbin of history where it belongs, together with the era of colonialism. This culture can be blamed for the many injustices meted out in the country’s courts.

But, perhaps, the greatest injustice the judicial officers visit on the public is the disrespect amply demonstrated by poor timekeeping by judges and magistrates.

While they demand the accused persons appear before them punctually at 9.am each working day, many of them stroll into the courts an hour or more later.