Judicial financial independence in Africa: The context and issues
by admin on | 2024-10-07 09:02:53 Last Updated by admin on 2024-10-18 08:29:19
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The inspiration for the book, Judicial financial independence in Africa: A study of eleven sub-Saharan countries, is the discordance between the principles of separation of powers and judicial independence, and the nature and level of funding of judiciaries in the African region. The book covers the experience and practice of eleven African countries: Kenya, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Uganda, Nigeria, Botswana, Tanzania, Zambia, Ghana, and Namibia. In all the countries, dismal resources are availed to the judiciaries, with varying levels of control by the Judiciary, as well as varying levels of accountability in the manner in which the resources are utilised. While the political arms of government (legislature and the executive) hold what is the called, “the power of the purse” the principles of separation of powers and the independence of the judiciary require that this role is exercised in a manner that respects the institutional and functional integrity of the judiciary and the courts. Specifically, the judiciary should play a core and leading in determining its resource priorities, and actively managing and controlling resources allocated to it from the national resources. This is the principle that has been reiterated in various national, regional, and global frameworks that address the independence of the Judiciary from a financial perspective. However, the experience in many African countries, including those covered in the book is different. The emerging pattern is that of executive and legislative dominance over the determination and control of resources allocated to the judiciary and many instances of the use of such power and control to influence the operations of the judiciary. In turn, the culture of governance that has subjugated the financial operations of the judiciary are rooted in the history or path that African countries have trudged. First, while the principles of separation of powers and judicial powers were well advanced by the time European colonial powers set shop in most of Africa, these aspects were not part of colonial package...Read more
