The
Vice President of the United Republic of Tanzania, H.E. Samia Suluhu
Hassan has urged the Judiciary to be independent, accountable and
effective in order to come up with a foundation of a democratic system.
She
made this remark while officiating at the opening of the Commonwealth
Magistrates and Judges Association Conference held in Dar es Salaam
today.
H.E.
Samia said that the expectations of the people to the judiciary may at
times be overwhelming given the capability challenges
“Regardless
of these challenges and independent, effective and accountable
judiciary needs to be in place to ensure the adherence of the rule of
law, equal access to justice, security of livelihoods of all and
peoples’ participation in peaceful governance of their countries,” said
Samia.
Vice
President said that she was glad that Magistrates and Judges had taken
upon themselves the leading role to ensure effective judiciary was in
place by including such topics perennial complaints of our people on
issues regarding to delays, financial and procedural constraints on
access to justice which threaten loss of trust and confidence in
Judiciary, in the program.
She
further said the Government of Tanzania has played its safeguarding
role by enacting the Judiciary Administration Act, 2011 which
established Judiciary Fund, designed to fund the disposal of cases.
Despite all those efforts, in developing countries like Tanzania,
funding was not always sufficient to cover all requirements of the
Judiciary, she added.
H.E.
Samia said that according to Tanzania’s Vision 2025, the country is
supposed to graduate from its current position as one of the Least
Developed Countries, to a middle income country enjoying a high level of
human development. According to the Vice President, that graduation has
to be undertaken by all arms including the Judiciary, which is
implementing its 2015/2016-2019-20 Strategic plan.
Meanwhile,
The Chief Justice of the United Republic of Tanzania, Prof. Ibrahim
Hamis Juma said that accountability, effectiveness and efficiency of the
Judiciary in Tanzania has improved significantly where judicial
officers were freed from day to day administrative functions.
He
added that the Judiciary of Tanzania realized its vision of separation
of judicial functions from purely administrative function following the
enactment of the Judiciary Administrative Act, 2011.
On
court buildings, the Chief Justice said in the Strategic Planning and
Citizen-Centric Judiciary Modernisation and Justice Service Delivery
Project funded by the World Bank, the Judiciary of Tanzania had adopted
MOLADI TECHNOLOGY to fast track construction of court buildings.
“I
confidently proclaim that by 2020 the Judiciary would have constructed
48 Districts courts, 100 Primary courts, 14 Resident Magistrates courts
and a Judiciary Head-quarter (Judiciary Square),”said Prof. Ibrahim.
This
is the Second Commonwealth Magistrates and Judges Association
Conference to be held in Africa while it is the first one to take place
in Tanzania. The 5 days Conference has attracted 13 Chief Justices from
Commonwealth countries and dozens of Judges and Magistrates.
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