More lawyers raise red flag on magistrates training with prosecutors

More lawyers have raised red flags on the judicial training which has seen lawyers attending with prosecutors.

Various lawyers have described this as a threat to the judiciary.

The concerns come as the Office of the Prosecutor General (PG) organised training on money laundering for both magistrates and state prosecutors.

The training on the Prevention of Organised Crime Act (Poca), which ended yesterday, started earlier this week at Keetmanshoop, Oshakati and in Windhoek.

Another training workshop is scheduled to take place at Rundu from 26 to 28 April.

Prominent lawyer Richard Metcalfe yesterday said “it is absolutely shocking” to learn that the PG’s office is conducting training in this manner.

“How can any member of the public expect fair-minded and just decisions in these circumstances?

“Justice becomes just ice in these circumstances and Namibia stands on the verge of becoming just another banana republic,” he said.

Metcalfe is in support of concerns surrounding perceptions of injustice and bias raised by his colleagues on this issue.
“In 36 years of admission to the legal profession, it seems Namibia sinks inexorably and inextricably deeper into the realms of injustice,” he said.

President of the Law Society of Namibia Clive Kavendjii, in a letter to the PG written earlier this week, said they learned with displeasure from members who filed complaints about the Poca or money laundering training offered to members of the judiciary by prosecutors.

Kavendjii said magistrates are free to make impartial decisions based on the law and the facts of a case before them, without fear of political interference or pressure from external forces.

“Indubitably, the impact of magistrates being trained by prosecutors who appear before them is a serious anomaly and a threat to the independence of the judiciary and the rule of law.

“This undermines the objectivity and independence of the judiciary and the criminal justice system as a whole. The rationale for this anomaly is unfathomable, especially when the state and/or the Office of the Judiciary could have secured the services of an independent institution to offer the training,” he said.

Kavendjii said the perception being created is without any doubt damaging to the rule of law and if the said training is not immediately stopped, it will have unintended consequences on the accused’s right to a fair trial.

Lawyer Ileni Gebhardt said the PG’s office is often the applicant or initiator of Poca and anti-money laundering training applications.

“It is inappropriate, unethical and a threat to the independence of the judiciary to allow presiding officers to receive training from one of the parties in applications which they will be required to preside over,” she said.

Gebhardt called for an urgent halt to the training and urged future presiding officers not to attend training conducted by one of the parties to applications that they will be required to preside over.

“At these workshops, there will not only be training on selected aspects of anti-money laundering, but discussions and debates will take place between one party and the presiding officers to the exclusion of the other party,” she said.

PG Martha Imalwa yesterday confirmed that she received a of complaint letter from the Law Society of Namibia and that she would respond today.

“I am still in the meeting and will only be able to respond tomorrow,” Imalwa said.

The Namibian sent questions to justice minister Yvonne Dausab, who was unreachable.