Justice eager to do more with less
An overview of the challenges and goals of the justice ministry has highlighted a lack of budget as the greatest obstacle.
The justice ministry has vowed that tightened purse strings will not hamper the ministry from achieving its strategic goals which include enhancing equal access to justice and providing top-notch customer care.
Speaking at the official launch of the five-year strategic plans of both the justice ministry and the office of the attorney-general, deputy executive director Gladice Pickering said money is not the biggest obstacle the ministry faces.
Instead, she said the ministry has found that mind-sets are key to achieving and implementing the strategic goals, despite limited funds.
Pickering commended the ministry's subdivisions and directorates for having shown “they are committed to the plans and the implementation” as set out in the 2017 to 2022 strategic plan, which was launched officially last week but already set in motion in 2017.
She said the ministry has seen that while budget constraints can be tricky and require an innovative stance, ministry staff has shown that they “are able to do more with less”.
Attorney-general Albert Kawana also commended staff at his office for their achievements.
He said the turnaround cycle time of finalising opinions has seen a significant improvement, and there have been notable improvements in the clearance of the backlog of cases in the prosecution of crimes.
In particular, Kawana noted that the attorney-general's office has seen zero default judgments, compared to past where government “used to lose a lot of cases through default judgments.”
Trouble-shooting
Both strategic plans contain a list of key challenges hampering the mandates of the institutions and detailed action plans to address these issues.
The justice ministry is grappling with a shortage of expertise and experienced legislative drafters, and is intent on tackling issues such as increased public education and ensuring better stakeholder support and involvement.
Another key issue is the automation of platforms and services.
Kawana underscored the urgent need for an online case-management system, which he said would improve bail and sentencing process as it would contain entire case histories of suspects, instead of the limited data many judicial officers now work with.
Kawana noted that this integrated database would provide a profile tracking the entire history of a suspect or offender within the criminal justice system, whereas current systems are not linked and often leave key stakeholders in the dark.
Commenting briefly on the issue, justice minister Sakeus Shanghala told Namibian Sun that while there are automated systems in place, including the Namibia court information system and at the High Court online system, they are not interlinked currently.
He agreed that the case management system would be ideal, but said for now the ministry needs prioritise the needs due to limited money.
“We are talking to various service providers to see how we can make do with the technology and the money we have now.”
He said for now, the ministry intends to focus on the Master of the High Court, which deals with beneficiaries, especially minors, and on the maintenance courts, to streamline those services online.
Other key issues identified in the ministry's strategic plan are high staff turnover and insufficient cooperation between authorities at regional and international levels, cycle times for processing of instructions, and the decentralisation of services and increase in service delivery points. Institutional inefficiency is also listed as a key issue, as well as the implementation of the national human rights action plan.
Critical
Major challenges identified and listed in the strategic plan for the attorney-general's office include, but are not limited to, an “increase in the amount of claims against the state”, which the office ascribes to an increase in citizens who “know their rights”.
The AG's office also noted a general “annual increase in requests for legal advice and opinions”, while the current organisational structure is “not responsive to deal with the demands that the office faces”.
Other critical issues linked to clients in particular include insufficient cooperation in the provision of “essential outstanding information”, as well as “inadequate instructions received from clients by the government attorney”.
Kawana emphasised that while the workload for his staff has “enormously increased” linked to an escalation in requests for legal services, especially from regional councils, local authorities and parastatals, the human resources have remained the same, placing additional pressure on the workforce.
He stressed however there is a need to also “do more with less” and that critical and limited state resources now need to be funnelled to help the most needy.
JANA-MARI SMITH
Speaking at the official launch of the five-year strategic plans of both the justice ministry and the office of the attorney-general, deputy executive director Gladice Pickering said money is not the biggest obstacle the ministry faces.
Instead, she said the ministry has found that mind-sets are key to achieving and implementing the strategic goals, despite limited funds.
Pickering commended the ministry's subdivisions and directorates for having shown “they are committed to the plans and the implementation” as set out in the 2017 to 2022 strategic plan, which was launched officially last week but already set in motion in 2017.
She said the ministry has seen that while budget constraints can be tricky and require an innovative stance, ministry staff has shown that they “are able to do more with less”.
Attorney-general Albert Kawana also commended staff at his office for their achievements.
He said the turnaround cycle time of finalising opinions has seen a significant improvement, and there have been notable improvements in the clearance of the backlog of cases in the prosecution of crimes.
In particular, Kawana noted that the attorney-general's office has seen zero default judgments, compared to past where government “used to lose a lot of cases through default judgments.”
Trouble-shooting
Both strategic plans contain a list of key challenges hampering the mandates of the institutions and detailed action plans to address these issues.
The justice ministry is grappling with a shortage of expertise and experienced legislative drafters, and is intent on tackling issues such as increased public education and ensuring better stakeholder support and involvement.
Another key issue is the automation of platforms and services.
Kawana underscored the urgent need for an online case-management system, which he said would improve bail and sentencing process as it would contain entire case histories of suspects, instead of the limited data many judicial officers now work with.
Kawana noted that this integrated database would provide a profile tracking the entire history of a suspect or offender within the criminal justice system, whereas current systems are not linked and often leave key stakeholders in the dark.
Commenting briefly on the issue, justice minister Sakeus Shanghala told Namibian Sun that while there are automated systems in place, including the Namibia court information system and at the High Court online system, they are not interlinked currently.
He agreed that the case management system would be ideal, but said for now the ministry needs prioritise the needs due to limited money.
“We are talking to various service providers to see how we can make do with the technology and the money we have now.”
He said for now, the ministry intends to focus on the Master of the High Court, which deals with beneficiaries, especially minors, and on the maintenance courts, to streamline those services online.
Other key issues identified in the ministry's strategic plan are high staff turnover and insufficient cooperation between authorities at regional and international levels, cycle times for processing of instructions, and the decentralisation of services and increase in service delivery points. Institutional inefficiency is also listed as a key issue, as well as the implementation of the national human rights action plan.
Critical
Major challenges identified and listed in the strategic plan for the attorney-general's office include, but are not limited to, an “increase in the amount of claims against the state”, which the office ascribes to an increase in citizens who “know their rights”.
The AG's office also noted a general “annual increase in requests for legal advice and opinions”, while the current organisational structure is “not responsive to deal with the demands that the office faces”.
Other critical issues linked to clients in particular include insufficient cooperation in the provision of “essential outstanding information”, as well as “inadequate instructions received from clients by the government attorney”.
Kawana emphasised that while the workload for his staff has “enormously increased” linked to an escalation in requests for legal services, especially from regional councils, local authorities and parastatals, the human resources have remained the same, placing additional pressure on the workforce.
He stressed however there is a need to also “do more with less” and that critical and limited state resources now need to be funnelled to help the most needy.
JANA-MARI SMITH
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