Northern in need of magistrates

By JUNIOR UKAHA
THE lack of magistrates in Popondetta, Northern, has resulted in a backlog of criminal cases at the provincial police headquarters, police chief Supt Victor Isouve said.
Isouve said the province had no magistrates for almost a year now and police were doing their best in dealing with offenders.
“There are no magistrates in the province and the committal hand-up brief court files are piling up,” Isouve, who took office last month, said.
“It appears as though the judiciary system in the province has collapsed because there are no courts to deal with offenders arrested by police for crimes.”
He said police had assumed the role of magistrates and had solved cases or referred them to councillors.
“I had instructed my policemen and women that they will only process major crimes,” he said.
He said he had instructed his officers to use their discretionary powers and the alternative dispute resolution mechanisms to sort out minor cases outside of court.
He said “fresh cases” could not be dealt with by the courts because there was no magistrate.
He said a recent increase in killings in the province had put a halt to investigations as it was a requirement that in all deaths, the report of death form was submitted to the resident coroner to request an autopsy.