An arrest
warrant has been issued for Swaziland’s Chief Justice Michael Ramodibedi on
23 charges, including abuse of power.
Ramodibedi has been in the spotlight for a number of
years over the way he runs the Swazi judiciary on behalf of King Mswati III,
the absolute monarch in Swaziland, who appointed him to office.
Many allegations of abuse of power have been made
from lawyers within Swaziland and also by the international human rights
community. Here are some of the highlights from the past four years.
In May 2014, two Supreme Court judges reportedly threatened to
resign if a warrant issued by Ramodibedi for the arrest of three High Court judges who were
critical of him was served, Ramodibedi reportedly issued the warrants but the Swazi police did not make the
arrests.
The three judges were Mumcy
Dlamini, Bheki Maphalala and Mbutfo Mamba.
Reportedly, arrest
warrants were issued because the CJ felt the judges were ‘ignoring his orders
and bringing the High Court into disrepute’.
It was reported
at the time that should the
warrants be effected and the judges arrested, the CJ planned to appoint interim
judges himself.
This was not an isolated
incident of abuse of power. In a report on Swaziland covering
the year 2011, Human
Rights Watch stated, ‘Serious
deficiencies in Swaziland’s judicial system persist. In an ominous precedent
for the independence of the judiciary, Chief Justice Michael Ramodibedi in
August suspended Justice Thomas Masuku
for insubordination and for insulting the king, among other charges.’
It added, ‘On August 11 [2011]
Justice Masuku appeared before the Judicial Services Commission (JSC), whose
six members are appointed by the king. On September 27 [2011] the king relieved
Judge Masuku of his duties for “serious misbehavior.” Justice Masuku had in the
past made several rulings in favor of human rights.’
In the case of Masuku, Ramodibedi
acted
as judge, prosecutor and witness in the case he himself brought.
David Matse, the
Swaziland Minister for Justice, was fired from his job
because he refused to sign the dismissal letter for Masuku.
Human Rights Watch added,
‘Control over the daily allocation of cases for hearings, including urgent
ones, has been placed solely in the hands of the chief justice, creating what
is perceived by lawyers as an unacceptable bias in the administration of
justice. In August [2011] the Law Society of Swaziland instituted a boycott of
the courts to protest these developments and the failure of the authorities to
hear its complaints regarding the running of the courts, including the chief
justice’s allocation of cases. On September 21[2011], Law Society members
delivered a petition to the minister of justice calling for action to address
the decisions of the chief justice and the general administration of justice in
the court system.’
In August 2011, Swazi
police in bullet-proof vests and armed with shotguns and tear gas canisters
invaded a meeting of lawyers in the Swaziland High Court, which had been called
to discuss their on-going campaign to get Ramodibedi removed from office. Reports
in the Swazi media said the Chief Justice himself ordered the police to break
up the meeting.
In September 2011, the Centre
For Human Rights, Swaziland, reported, ‘Swaziland lawyers embarked on the
court boycott after the CJ issued a series of unlawful practice directives, to
all courts of the land, directing them not to admit certain cases. In one
directive, the CJ instructed the Registrar that cases would only be allocated
to judges by the CJ himself, and no other officer. In another practice
directive, issued in June 2011, the CJ instructed the Registrar and officers of
all courts in the land that cases involving the king should not be admitted.
These regrettable actions of the CJ were largely viewed as interference not
only with the administration of the courts, but also as a denial of the
fundamental right to access justice.’
In November 2011, the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA)
reported,
‘Lawyers have been boycotting the courts for almost
four months in protest at the maladministration of justice in the country by the incumbent Chief Justice,
Michael Ramodibedi. But this week, they upped the pressure on the Chief Justice
by staging a mass walk-out of the Supreme Court. This left all suspects and
people with civil cases with no legal representation.
‘But astonishingly, the
Chief Justice ordered that all cases be heard with or without the lawyers.
This, as some have already observed, is the height of injustice. The Chief
Justice is also on record as praising people who represented themselves saying
that they actually argue “much better than the lawyers”.
‘Subsequent to the
directive to proceed without the lawyers, Ramodibedi then went another step
further - banning all lawyers from setting foot in the High Court. A heavily
armed police contingent has been posted in and around the High Court premises
and only government lawyers and people with cases have been allowed to enter.
Banned from meeting at the High Court, the lawyers opted for a very innovative
strategy, using their vehicles to “march” through the capital city in protest
and brining the city to a stand-still - much to the consternation of the
police.’
See
also
CJ
BID TO CANCEL OWN ARREST WARRANT
ARREST
WARRANT FOR CHIEF JUSTICE
CJ
AND JAILED JOURNALISTS
‘CJ
ARREST WARRANTS FOR CRITIC JUDGES’
DOES
CHIEF JUSTICE KNOW THE LAW?
JUDICIARY
BID TO STOP MEDIA SCRUTINY
TOP
JUDGE ATTACKS PRESS FREEDOM
CHIEF
JUSTICE THREATENS MEDIA
SWAZI
JUDGE FIRED FOR ‘DISRESPECT’
AMNESTY:
REINSTATE JUDGE MASUKU
SWAZI
LAWYERS MARCH FOR JUDGE
SWAZI
KING ABANDONS RULE OF LAW
SWAZI
MINISTER OF JUSTICE FIRED
SWAZI
KING FIRES CRITICAL JUDGE
AMNESTY
ON SWAZI JUDICIAL SYSTEM
SWAZI
CHIEF JUSTICE MUST GO – SCCCO
SWAZI
LAWYERS CHARGE CHIEF JUSTICE
SWAZI
LAWYERS BOYCOTT COURTS
SWAZI
CHIEF JUSTICE ‘ABUSES POWERS’
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