CJ wants control over village court appointments

THE appointment process of village court magistrates should be returned to the judiciary, Chief Justice Sir Salamo Injia, pictured, says.
“The judiciary has been advocating the idea that the appointment process of the village courts magistrates should be returned to the judiciary through the Judicial and Legal Service Commission,” he said.
Sir Salamo said the Judicial and Legal Service Commission was the body that appointed magistrates and judges and the same body should appoint village courts magistrates.
“The justice that they (village court magistrates) dispense in the village is no different from the district courts, and justice that the National and the Supreme Courts make,” he said.
“The appointment of village courts magistrates at the moment is a bit disorganised.
“There have been a lot of questions asked about the quality of village court magistrates and officials.”
Sir Salamo said there were concerns that the processes could have been hijacked and interfered with by certain elements within the local level governments and the provincial governments.
He said problems would be resolved if the appointment process was taken away from the executive functions of the government and given to the Judicial and Legal Service Commission.