Chief Justice

Controversies tied to the judiciary in Lesotho continued unabated this week. First shock was that Prime Minister Thomas Thabane renewed his attempt to have the Court of Appeal president, Kananelo Mosito, suspended pending an inquiry into his behaviour. It is Thabane's second attempt in just a few weeks, and follows shortly after the appeal court had ruled that Thabane could not again threaten Judge Mosito with suspension on the basis of a letter of complaint written by the Acting Chief Justice.

Read judgment on MalawiLII

High court judge Zione Ntaba has delivered a decision she will never forget. Though her official profile lists Judge Ntaba’s passions as the rights of women and children, disability issues and the problems of HIV and AIDS, this is quite different. It is a decision in which she found that Malawi’s Chief Justice, Andrew Nyirenda, and the country’s Judicial Service Commission had acted irregularly, illegally and unconstitutionally.

Read the Rules on TanzLII

Court rules are often pretty boring to outsiders. Usually they are only of interest to lawyers who must obey them to the letter so they don’t get into trouble and make a mistake about filing deadlines, for example.